A Forgotten Past and an Unknown Future
by CullenCrazy1918
Summary: Kristina finds herself in a hard time when her mother is missing and she is forced to move to an unknown town. The kids there seem nice at first, but they have a secret, and Kristi's whole life has been a huge secret, that she will soon find out...
1. Prologue: A Wish Upon a Star

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

_Hey, this is a story based on a character from another fanfic, A New Day Approaches, check it out! This is Kristina's story. Thing 2 and I are writing it, it's posted on each of our sites. This story starts with Kristina going through a tough time; maybe things change, maybe not. Please review and we'll keep writing. We hope you like it!  
_

**Prologue:  
A Wish Upon a Star  
**  
It all started when my mom told me good bye before leaving for work. I was twelve at the time and afraid I would never see my mother again. When the cops showed up to my house I didn't know what to think. When the cops told my dad something like, "Mr. Bard, we are sorry to tell you...we found your wife's car and she is no where to be found. She is currently missing," I started to cry. I never expected this to happen to my mother. My mother loved everyone, at the time we could think of no one who would want to harm her and she had no reasons to leave without telling us. Even though I never gave up on finding my mom, the cops did, it was if they didn't care.

For a week my father and I sat around the house waiting on any news as to where my mother was, about six days later the police called. I slowly walked into the kitchen where my father was on the phone. At first you could see the hope in his eyes, but when the person on the other line said something bad his expression changed. I knew what this meant...they didn't find my mother and they were closing the case.

I spent a lot of time crying over my mother even though I knew she was out there somewhere. My dad told me when they closed the case that he doubted that she was still alive. It was mid July and I was supposed to be starting the eighth grade at the end of August. After a few weeks of my mom missing, I stopped eating or doing anything. Not to long after I broke down soon progressing into something more. My body was growing weaker from me starving myself and the therapist said I needed to get out of town for a while. I no longer got to be a normal little girl, with a best friend and a boyfriend later on; instead I got stuck in a boarding school for mentally disturbed children.

I never thought that would mean this horrible place becoming my home for nine months. So day in and day out I sat in the small dorm room not knowing if I would ever get through this without my mother. I would watch the clouds outside my room window and wonder when I would get to go outside again or if my mother would ever come back. I felt bad for my dad, he was always alone. If my mom was here we would be living our lives like we were supposed to. As school started I had to get a tutor or personal teacher to teach me in my room, just like everyone else in this stupid place, I felt so useless, but I was always extremely smart for my age, so I was told. To tell the truth, I hated it here. My dad would call me every night to check on me and I would always ask if I would be out of here soon but I always got the same response, "I don't know sweetheart, only when you get better."

As time dragged on I always hoped that my mom would come home and that I would get to see her. The days kept growing longer along with getting worse. I always felt horrible, I could barely look at myself anymore nor did I want too. I was dying and I knew it, my dad knew it, I even tried to explain to my best friend over the phone that I doubted I would live much longer and I told her to make sure to take care of my dad. My best friend was the nicest person and always happy, I couldn't have asked for a better best friend. She helped me with everything, she was like my sister.

A couple weeks passed by, then months, and then I turned thirteen. It was right after my monthly appointment that the therapist and my dad walked in with smiles on their faces. I hoped they had good news.

"Kristina, we have decided it's time for you to come home," they told me.

I looked at both of them confused and dazed. Were they pulling a prank on me? My dad soon called my aunt so I knew they weren't lying. I couldn't help but be excited, after all the weeks of struggle and pain, the torture was over and I could live my life while searching for my mom. Maybe I would get to go to the local high school with my best friend by my side.

When my dad walked into my boarding room he sat on the end of my bed, "Kristina, the therapist said you get to come home tomorrow," I could feel myself perk up as I heard the news. I missed everything about home, the smell of my room, the sun shining in when it's sunny out, everything. From what my dad told me, nothing had changed about home, everything was left as is. The only difference is my next door neighbors moved away. That didn't matter though, I was just happy to be able to go and live the life waiting for me outside this room and school. Maybe I could find my mom and everything could get back to the way things were.

For the last time I looked over my old, shabby, boarding room and committed it to memory. This was apart of my life and it would just remind me to never give up.

For the first time in months I walked outside. Quickly, tripping as I wasn't use to the sun blaring in my eyes. I took this whole experience in as my dad helped me walk to the car. I smiled from ear to ear as I walked outside and felt the sun shine on my dark brown hair. I couldn't help but look up and feel the sun shine on my face for the first time in months, considering the therapist wouldn't let me outside due to the risk I might run away. I found my best friend Stacy leaning against my fathers car. She ran over to me as she saw me look at her.

"I guess this means you were never meant to die in this stupid boarding school after all," she said in her sweet voice, as she smiled that made me laugh.

I nodded, "I guess so," I said as we loaded into my dad's car, so I could finish the life I started.


	2. Chapter 1: Moving Day

**Chapter 1:  
Moving Day**

After I got settled at home again, dad broke the news to me, "Kristy, I talked to your aunt and she thinks it would be best if we move to La Push, so we could be close to her...we are moving in three days," at first I thought he was playing with me. I could see he was worried about how I would take this, but I honestly didn't mind. Yeah, I would miss Stacy, but this is for the best. It will be ruff at first, because I have considered the facts that I am extremely skinny and labeled as mentally disturbed, which I am not. I'm ready for that though. But I am not going to talk about my mother or my time in that stupid boarding school. I refuse to tell anyone about my past. This is a way I could start my life over, making friends that like me for who I am not because they feel sorry for me. Maybe I would be lucky enough to find a nice friend or two, hopefully.

I went ahead and started packing everything in my room, like my dad told me. I didn't have much, so it wouldn't take me long to pack. I went ahead and started with my closet, packing all my clothes, except for a few outfits for the next two days. It was going to be tough saying good bye to Stacy but I would make sure to keep contact, no matter what. Stacy stuck with me through everything and I figured I owed her this at the least.

I heard someone's footsteps walk into the room behind me, but I paid no attention to it because I was too paranoid about getting everything packed by tonight.

"Kristy," I heard Stacy's voice call.

I sighed. "Hey Stacy...did my dad tell you about us...moving?" I frowned hoping I didn't say something I would regret.

"Yeah, your dad told me when we came to pick you up yesterday," she said in her soothing voice. I sighed in relief.

Together Stacy and I finished packing my room. I could sense she was sad about me going, but happy at the same time. It's sad that this would be one of the last times I would see her but I had other things to worry about, plus my dad agreed to let her come visit whenever.

Today was my first day at La Push high school. It had already been a day since we moved. I was a little more enthusiastic about going to school, more than a normal teenager would be, but that's only because I haven't been to a real school in a year. I know that I will get a lot of stares because I'm not like everyone else, and I'm also the new girl in town. I am prepared for that; I think. I slumped out of bed, so wanting to not go to school today, but knowing that I have to.

I looked inside my new closet, in search of something to wear to school. My long brown hair was a long tangled mess today so I pulled it up into a ponytail with my bangs hanging down. I took a few deep breaths, as my nerves slowly got the best of me and headed for the bathroom. What if everyone thought I was weird or that I didn't belong? What if no one wanted to talk to me, much less be my friend? I know some people won't like me but that's just a part of life, there had to be a few decent people in this town though. I bit my bottom lip as I searched through my bathroom, I always bite my bottom lip when I'm nervous. I paced back and forth as I looked for some Chap Stick or lip balm, feeling my lips burn.

I heard my dad's footsteps as he made his way upstairs into my room; I turned to find him smiling. My Dad always made sure I was okay. But right now I wasn't really.

"What's up dad?" I tried to sound perky in hopes that he wouldn't notice I was nervous.

He took a deep breath in, "Aunt Kate got me a job where she works so you'll have to walk to school."

I nodded and went back to getting ready for my first day of high school.

I got dressed and got my books ready. It was time to eat breakfast, I would have to leave early to walk there. I trudged downstairs, reluctantly. My Dad had the newspaper in on hand while his coffee in the other. He was about to leave.

"What time do you think you'll get back?" I asked, pouring cereal into a bowl.

"Probably about an hour or two after you, it will give you some time to do your homework," he winked. I giggled at his attempt to be funny.

"Have a great day sweetheart," he said and kissed my forehead.

"Yeah, I'll try." I replied, sarcastically. I watched him walk out the door, and turned to the clock. Crap, I'm going to be late. I shoved one more mouthful of cereal into my mouth and threw the bowl in the sink, I'll clean I up later. I grabbed my bag and started on my way to school.

As I walked to school I tried not to think about what people would think of me. I was already nervous enough as it is, with my stomach doing flips. I couldn't help but wonder what people would think of me. I didn't want to be noticed. I wish I could go and leave without one single eye on me. But I knew that wasn't going to happen, not here anyways.

As I walked into the parking lot I felt sick, I gulped. Everyone seemed to be walking in huge groups with all their friends, while I was alone; it made me feel self conscious. I could already feel everyone's eyes on me as I made my way to the doors. I could hear all their whispers as people said, "She looks anorexic."

Anorexic, really? I mean, really, I love eating, but after nine months of being depressed and not wanting to eat anything but a little bit of crackers, you don't look like the healthiest person in the world. I felt sick too, like I wanted to throw up, but that was just because of the nerves, I kept telling myself.

I walked through the hallway looking for any sign of the front office, I figured by the time I came to the door that said ''MAIN OFFICE,'' I was off to a pretty good start. I could feel my body tense up as I went to open the door, getting my first glimpse of the school staff. The man behind the desk looked to be in his fifties, he was bald, and had big round glasses on. He was on the computer, as I walked in.

When he recognized my presence, he directed me to come over, and I weakly smiled. He gave me a list of all my classes while pointing out the best route to get there; impatiently I drummed my fingers against the desk top not paying attention. I just wanted this day to end.

"You must be Kristina Bard," He stared up at me with his cheeky grin. Ugh, I want to go home.

I nodded. I couldn't find my voice to answer.

"Here is everything you will need. I hope you enjoy," I walked away before he said anything else. All I could think about after that comment was:_ "Yeah, I'll enjoy my first day at a school that I don't know anything about, with people I don't know, and teachers I don't know. Yeah, like that's going to happen."_

My full attention was focused on finding my locker, number five-fifty-six. As I scanned each locker, people stared, but I ignored them and kept trying to find my locker. This place was so confusing. I walked around looking for my locker and as if on cue someone tapped my shoulder, "Hi, I'm Shelby. I noticed you were looking for your locker, would you like me to help?" she asked generously. I looked up to find a pretty girl, with long flaming red hair, blue eyes, and somewhat pale skin. She looked kind, but that didn't help the feeling I had to just run away. I was always a very shy person.

I gulped. "Yeah, I can't find it anywhere," I stated, as if she hadn't figured that out yet. We kept walking along lockers; I kept peeking at the numbers. I didn't want to just stand there and talk to this girl I didn't even know.

"What number is it?" she asked in a rather sweet tone.

I looked around for a second, "Five-fifty-six and my name is Kristina," I said.

She smiled, "That's right beside my locker and pretty name by the way," she sounded rather excited...I followed behind her as she lead the way, "So how long have you lived here?" she asked

"Since yesterday morning," I answered.

She nodded and gestured her hand beside her locker. It took me a couple tries to get my locker open, but I finally got the combination right, I hurried as I shoved all my books into my locker but my history book.

I took a couple breaths, "So what class do you have first?" I looked over to find her grab her science book; she lifted it up showing me. I nodded.

I could see her staring at my book in shock, "You have history first? Only advanced kids have that class first." her brows furrowed as I checked my schedule.

"Yep, see it says first period history room two-thirty-nine." I sighed hoping she wouldn't think I was weird.

"Wow, you never mentioned you were a genus and a cute one at that." she smiled in a reassuring way as I laughed.

"Thanks, Shelby."

She smiled, "I have to get to class but feel free to sit with me and my friends at lunch!" she said over her shoulder. By the time she was gone I noticed I forgot to ask how to get to my history class from here.

I made my way to class looking at the floor the whole time. I walked into my history class when I suddenly heard a bunch of husky sounding laughs, at first I thought they were laughing at me. I looked up at them and I was surprised by what I saw. There were three huge, muscular guys standing before me. They all looked the same with the russet colored skin, and dark cropped hair. They all seemed to be at least six foot five, but what confused me was they all looked as if they could be college kids, rather than ninth graders. They were huge, and I mean huge. They kept to themselves, though. They didn't even turn around to look at me enter the room.

I quickly went and sat in a seat, that wasn't taken, and sunk down, shyly. I was hoping I wouldn't catch anyone's attention. I didn't want to deal with that right now. The teacher was talking about the Civil War, the American Revolution. I knew all of this, but I took notes just to be sure. I had always been a good student; I just got sidetracked easily. I had filled a side of paper all about the Battle of Gettysburg, when the bell rang. I was glad to have history over with.

Second Period was another story; Math was always my best subject. I had no need to pay attention, most of the time the teacher went over what he expects from the class this year and blah blah blah. While the teacher talked I mainly doodled on my notebook, not realizing the person beside me was staring. I looked over to find another big husky guy with russet colored skin, and dark cropped hair. The only thing I couldn't figure out though was he looked very familiar in one way or another. I looked into his eyes instantly regretting that decision. His eyes were exactly like my moms; hazel with a hint of blue around the edges. I felt like I wanted to cry and it was obvious he could tell. He looked down slowly, turning his attention back to the teacher when the bell rang. I took my books, still in a daze.

I walked out of the room and through the doorway. Against the wall was Shelby. _Oh great!_ She looked up to me and walked over. It wasn't that she wasn't nice, cause she was, it was just someone was noticing me. And I didn't want that.

"Hey, Kristina, are you having a good day so far?" She asked, walking along- side me. I wanted to yell "Not really!" But of course I didn't.

"Ehh," I answered somewhat honestly. "Okay, I guess." She smiled and laughed. I hoped she wasn't laughing at me.

"What class do you have next?" She asked, kindly. I looked to my schedule, hoping she didn't have the same class as me.

"Science with Mr. Darby," I said. Science was my worst subject; I always got a bad grade. I was determined to change that here.

"Oh, me too!" _Perfect, just perfect. _Maybe it will be okay. I didn't reply, just forced a smile across my face and kept walking. I followed her to class. There were two desks in the corner. I knew she was going to sit next to me. But at least it was in the back, maybe she wouldn't talk to me. I set my books down and pulled out paper to take more notes. Mr. Darby was one of the younger teachers I have. He had blond hair with reading glasses on the end of his nose. He was standing up when I walked in and I didn't see him sit during the entire period, he had a lot of energy. We were learning Earth Science, that was the easier subject in science for me, but I took careful notes just in case. I was glad that he didn't call on me or Shelby didn't talk to me. I sighed when the bell rang. This meant lunch time, the hardest part of a new school.

Shelby walked with me, again, to my locker. I opened it easily and took out my paper lunch that Dad packed for me.

"Are you going to sit with us?" Shelby asked, as we walked into the Lunch room. Where else would I sit?

"Sure," I smiled and followed her to a table, almost full of people. She introduced them all to me, but I wasn't really paying attention. I was too busy looking around to find the boy who was staring at me in Math class. I found him, sitting at a large table with a big group of people. They were the boys who looked much older and bigger to be in ninth grade. They were all boys, except for one girl, sitting on the end, alone, with a scowl that looked as if it was permanently on her face. I turned back and forced down my sandwich, no matter how sick I felt. The bell rang again, two more classes. Shelby asked to see my schedule; I gave it to her, before we left.

"I'll see you in English," she handed it to me. I sighed and walked beck to my locker for my art sketch book.

I entered the class late because I got lost on my way to find it. The teacher didn't notice though, I snuck into a chair and started copying down the rules for using acrylics. Art went by fast, before I knew it the bell had rung. I was on my way to my last class: English. Shelby met me up about halfway to class.

"You happy the day's almost over?" She asked, looking over her shoulder to someone. I kept walking forwards.

"You could say that," I laughed. Shelby wasn't too bad. We walked into English, the teacher smiled to me. I blushed and sat down. I noticed the same boy was in this class with me too. I decided maybe Shelby would know who he was.

"Hey, Shelby?" I asked. She looked over, surprised that I brought up a conversation.

"Yeah?"

"You know who that boy is?" I asked and pointed over to him. She looked over and turned back with recognition in her eyes.

"Embry, Embry Call… why?" She looked confused.

"I don't know, just wondering." I turned back. The name wasn't familiar to me. But I felt like I knew him. One day at a new school and already a big mystery. I took many notes for English as well, my wrist hurt from writing so much. I shook I around to get the blood flowing. The teacher was cut off with the final bell. I sighed in happiness that school was over, for today at least. I wanted to run home. Shelby left me as I went to my locker. She came back just as I shut it.

"Are you walking home?" She asked.

"Yes," I answered.

"Want to walk together?" She asked, smiling.

"Sure, why not?" I walked next to her down my street. We didn't talk much. Well, she did, but I just nodded in response. At least I had made one friend. She waved goodbye as I walked up my new driveway.

"See you tomorrow!" She yelled. At least today was over with.


	3. Chapter 2: The Beach

**Chapter 2:  
The Beach  
**  
Today started out just like yesterday. I yanked everything out of my closet in hopes to find the perfect outfit. Nothing seemed reasonable for the weather or to blend in at school. Instead I let my hair down so I could use it to block my face since I wouldn't be finding an outfit to help me blend; I loved the length of my hair for that specific reason. I couldn't help but be nervous again; what if Shelby decided not to talk to me today? What if she finally figured out that I was a dork that wasn't worth anyone's time?

I walked into my bathroom and turned on the sink to brush my teeth when I noticed the time, I had to leave now or I would have to run to school... again. I quickly brushed my teeth while putting on whatever I grabbed first; I ended up wearing a baby blue tank top with a white shawl and blue jeans. That seemed like a reasonable outfit but whether I liked it or not it would have to do. I quickly snatched up my bag shoving all my books and homework into it. I had no time to eat breakfast today.

My dad was already gone by the time I got down stairs. Right now I wished Stacy was here to walk me to school and make me feel calm but, I was already late and if I wanted to wallow about Stacy not being here, I would have to do it while running to school.

I only lived a block or two away from school, so I didn't have to run far. As I rounded the corner I noticed Shelby standing outside by the door looking for something or someone. She couldn't be looking for me, could she? No, I met her yesterday, unless she was that nice. I went ahead and walked straight forward taking a deep breath before coming into her view.

I could see a smile come across her face as she saw me, "Kristina! Over here!" She screamed while flaring her arms over her head. It made me laughing knowing how stupid she looked; she reminded me of Stacy. Well, for now anyway, she didn't think I was a weirdo. But opinions change.

I gulped, "Hey Shelby, what are you doing out here?" I asked furrowing my brow.

"Waiting for you… What else would I be doing?" She seemed sincere as she spoke.

"I don't know, but anyways what's up?" Once again I took a deep breath in. I needed to be nice to Shelby; she put up with me on my first day here.

"Well, my mom told me about the big bonfire at the beach today. A bunch of people from around here are going. She said I could bring one friend and I want you to come with me. That is if you can of course," a smile touched her lips. Does she feel sorry for me or something? She has only known me for a day, and I'm not that interesting. I had to answer her though and what is the worst that could happen? She seemed sweet and well she is the only friend I have right now.

"Sure, I guess I will come. I just don't know how to get to the beach." I looked down at the ground. I felt stupid. "I'll also have to call my dad to let him know, but I don't think he'll have a problem" I stated an added the part at the end for her.

"Ok! Great, I can't wait. The bonfire starts around eight so I will tell my mom to stop by your house to pick you up and then we will head to the beach." I could hear the excitement in her voice. To tell the truth, I was pretty excited too. It sounded fun and how could I turn her down? She is the only person, other than her friends, who have talked to me so it might be nice to get out. And maybe I would find out more about this place, or meet some new people.

The bell finally rang meaning first period would start in two minutes and if Shelby and I didn't get a move on soon we would be late. I ran to my locker nearly tripping twice. I practically threw all my books in my locker other than my history textbook. History flew by very fast; we just wrapped up the Gettysburg Address when the bell rang. I walked to Math, quickly.

I walked in again to husky laughter and the same three huge guys. Today they all looked over at me with curious eyes. One smiled, it was the same guy that was staring at me last math class. He still looked familiar. I went ahead and went to the back of the room to be followed by Embry Call. I wish I knew where I recognized him from. I went ahead and took out the notes from the previous math class, to get ready.

"Hey," he whispered, "I'm Embry, what's your name?" I didn't know if I should answer, but I did want to figure out how I knew him.

"Um, Kristina," I replied. He was big, and I was surprised that he left his smaller group of friends. From what Shelby had told me about them on the walk home from school yesterday, they never really talked to anyone. I could feel him staring at me and I turned to see him writing something down on a piece of paper,

_I have never seen you here before. Did you just move to town?_

I looked over at him to find the most familiar smile on his face. I couldn't help but smile back and reply. I took out my pencil and jotted my answer down on the piece of paper,

_Yeah, I just moved here three days ago._

I could see the teacher shuffling around trying to explain how to multiply fractions. I looked over to find Embry writing out what looked like a paragraph. He slipped the note over to me, while winking.

_I know this might sound weird, but I recognize you from somewhere but I have no idea where. If you aren't busy tonight stop by the bonfire at the beach. It would be nice to figure out why I might recognize you._

I re-read the note about four times making sure I understood. Quickly I pulled out my pencil once again and wrote,

_I recognize you from somewhere too. I already had plans to go to the bonfire with one of my friends. I will talk to you then._

I slipped the note to him as I saw him nod in return. I went ahead and adverted my eyes back to the teacher. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Embry smile and put the notes away. The bell rang; I stood up, hoping he was gone. He was, back with his friends, walking out of the room. But I thought I saw him turn around and wink to me again. But it could have just been my mind playing tricks on me.

I walked out of the classroom in a state of confusion; what happened couldn't have been real. Maybe this is all a dream. I saw Shelby waiting for me at my locker and decided I might as well play along.

"Hey, Shelby. The weirdest thing happened to me in math class today." I sighed as I shoved my history and math book into my locker while rummaging for my science book.

"What happened?" she asked in her sincere, sweet voice.

"I talked to Embry Call, well actually he talked to me," a smile spread across my face, waiting to hear Shelby's reaction.

I looked over to find Shelby's mouth agape; once again she made me laugh. You could see her attempt to straighten up; though she was not succeeding.

She took a very deep breath in before she spoke,"Y-You talked to E-Embry Call?"

I chuckled once more, "Well, when I walked into math he followed me back to our table and then he asked me my name and for the rest of class we passed notes back and forth," I said, hoping I didn't say too much.

As Shelby paced I couldn't help but notice her waving her hands everywhere, "Shelby, what the hell are you doing?" I asked while shaking my head back and forth.

She looked at me and once again started waving her arms around, almost smacking an eleventh grader in the process, " This is how I keep from screaming, squeaking, etc.," she said in a very casual tone. I could see her breathing heavily; it looked as if she might go into shock.

She stopped pacing and quickly walked over to me still waving her arms around, "What did you talk about exactly?"

I sighed and quickly told her what we talked about on the way to science. We entered the science room to find Embry Call's friend sitting in Shelby's seat. I looked to find Shelby half-way across the room already in Paul's regular seat. Shyly I looked at the floor and made my way for the empty seat beside Embry's friend.

As I sat my books down on the edge of the table and noticed Embry's friend turn to look at me, "Hey, I'm Paul; I'm one of Embry's friends...but I was wondering, can you sit with us at lunch today?" he asked.

I couldn't believe my ears. I had never had a boy even talk to me back in New York and now, every class I walk into I have boys asking me all sorts of questions. Is this all a joke or is he serious?

I looked over at him and sighed, "If you are playing a joke on me it's not funny. I know I'm the new girl in town but that doesn't mean I don't have feelings," I saw him chuckle as I took a deep breath in, happy to get that over with.

"We aren't playing a joke on you. We and I mean all the Quileute's want you to come sit with us at lunch," a smile slowly spread across his face once again.

I looked to find Mr. Darby writing on the board; as class had already began.

I looked straight into his eyes and felt a slow sigh of relief go through me, "Sure but my friend Shelby is sitting with us too." Paul nodded in answer to my request and quickly started catching up with the teacher.

Not to long after the little conversation I had with Paul, did the bell ring loud and clear. It was already lunch time. Shelby quickly hopped up and ran over to me as I gathered my things, "What did he have to say?!" she rushed as we headed to her locker.

"Well he wants me to sit with their group at lunch but he said you could come if you want," I added the last part hoping that would make her want to come more; obviously it had worked. As the words came out of my mouth she quickly lit up with excitement.

She squeaked a little not noticing all the turning heads, "Let's go!" she said, quickly grabbing my arm and practically dragging me into the cafeteria when she noticed to blank seats waiting for us at the one big table which sat about 8 overly sized guys and one disgusted looking girl. I froze, something told me to turn around and go and sit with Shelby's friends. But I needed to find out how I knew Embry.

"What are you doing? Come on," Shelby whispered, pulling me closer. I got my legs to work again and I walked up to the table. The girl mumbled something and turned away. Yeah, she looked _nice_.

"Umm…," I didn't know what to say. I looked to Embry, who was watching every move I made.

"Guys this is Kristina, and her friend Shelby," Embry said, turning to the boys at his table. Everyone looked to him and me, back and forth, which made me a little bit nervous. But I mouthed the word 'thanks' to him. He mouthed back, 'no problem' and smiled. I stood there for about a minute, not knowing what to do or say next.

"Well, sit down," one very dark boy said. He had black hair and dark eyes. "I'm Jacob. Jacob Black, it's nice to meet you. Embry's told us a lot about you." He smiled. Embry shot him a mean glance, it made me laugh. Shelby and I sat down next to each other, in the middle of the bench surrounded by boys on both sides. The boys questioned me about where I lived and my life. They asked Shelby how long she's lived on the reservation. I had a good time and time flew by fast. I noticed the entire time we were there, the girl never once spoke to anyone, she just scowled and ate her sandwich. She looked like she was about 18 or older. But she looked mean, depressed and dark…. The nice person inside of me wanted to help, but I didn't say anything. The rest of the day I couldn't help but think about the bonfire and the girl who sat with us at lunch. Maybe she didn't like new people?  
Time passed quickly until English class came: I walked in to find Embry at my desk holding a piece of paper. Shelby for a minute looked as if she was scowling at me until she quickly turned and sat up front leaving me to go sit by Embry. I quickly sat down as the teacher had just walked in. Embry turned to look over at me when he startled me by laughing.  
I looked around to find everyone staring,

"Embry, everyone is staring. What's so funny?" I started to laugh myself as I noticed how funny his laugh was. After he calmed down, he answered my question, he just shook his head. That wasn't going to cut it. He burst out laughing and made everyone in the room stare at me, for the reason he won't tell me. No.

"What was funny?" I pushed. He sighed and looked over to me.

"Just forget it," he said.

"No, tell me! I want to know," I begged. He sighed.

"Okay. I think your friend likes me," he watched for my reaction. My friend?

"Shelby? Yeah, you're a nice guy, I bet a lot of people like you," I didn't understand what he was saying. He just shook his head with a mischievous smile on his face.

"You don't get it."

"Then help me get it," I really wanted to know now.

"Not like. I meant like_ like_," he sighed. I couldn't respond then because the teacher walked past with the lecture about Shakespeare.

_Shelby and Embry, together? That would be weird_, I thought.  
Through out class I wondered what that piece of paper Embry was holding was for; maybe it's for Shelby? Or me? No. Probably not. I sat in class taking glances at Embry and Shelby. Embry seemed happy and Shelby seemed mad or gloomy, I couldn't really tell the difference. But she wasn't happy, I could tell that. I looked back to Embry. I still had a nagging feeling that I knew him from somewhere. It bothered me. I promised myself that I would find out. I saw the paper in his hand; he tucked it into his pocket. I glanced at the clock. Ugh, school is so boring sometimes. When the bell rang, I got up out of my chair. I picked up my books and turned around. It surprised me that Embry was still here. Normally, he left as soon as the bell rang. He was sitting on his desk smiling to me.

I took a deep breath in trying to comprehend the whole day when I saw Embry put his hand into his pocket and bring out the piece of paper, then he interrupted my thoughts,

"Kristina, here is my phone number. Call me tonight," before I could respond Embry was gone. I turned around to find Shelby, by the door waiting for me, almost in tears; I couldn't help but feel bad. Maybe, just maybe Embry was right about Shelby liking him. Either way I had to find out for the sake of our friendship. She ran out of the room, to get away from me probably. I felt terrible. I ran after her.

"Shelby! Wait!" I yelled. She stopped and turned around, betrayal on her face. I was at loss of words when she said,

"What?" I opened my mouth but closed it. If I could speak, I would probably make it worse. She sighed.

"My Mom will pick you up at 8. Be ready," she said and walked away. I didn't go after her; I wouldn't know what to say. Maybe I could fix this tonight at the bonfire. I took out the piece of paper Embry gave me. It did have a phone number on it. I sighed and went to my locker to get ready to go home.

The day seemed to go great except for Shelby practically hating me. I couldn't believe Shelby liked Embry. For some reason I felt like she liked someone in my family, which made me feel awkward around her. My mind was full of thoughts all the way home. On the bright side, I had the bonfire to look forward to tonight.  
I walked up what was now my drive way expecting to see the garage door shut and my dad still at work; instead he was home 3 hours early. I opened the door, confused.

"Kristina?" My Dad asked. Who else would it be?

"Yeah, Dad."

"Hey Honey, how was school?" He asked, peeking out of the kitchen. Some of me really wanted to talk about Embry and Shelby to him, get advice on how to fix it. But then I also thought I should figure it out myself. So I decided to leave that specific part out.

"Okay. I got a 90% on a science quiz," I smiled.

"Great!"

"What are you doing home so early?" I asked, curiously. I walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

"Well, honey... I have the night off and I wanted to spend time with you," slowly a smile spread across his face. Instantly I felt bad,

"Dad, I don't know how to tell you this, but I have plans to go to a bonfire tonight," slowly his smile melted from his face leaving a spot of disappointment. I knew this would happen eventually. I had to figure out a way to spend time with him.  
"How about you come to the bonfire with Shelby, her mom Cassandra, and I... if you want to?" I couldn't help but ask if he wanted to come. I didn't want my dad to be by himself tonight.

"You wouldn't mind me coming?" He asked, excited now. I didn't really. I just needed to talk to Embry again.

"No, of course not. It's at the beach. Shelby's Mom is picking us up around 8," I smiled at my father's happy face.

"Okay, thanks. I'll go get ready," he said and got up to walk to his room. I watched him leave thinking about how much I loved him and he loved me. I looked at the clock. 7:00, I might as well get ready seemed to go by in a blur. I couldn't help but wonder if today was just a dream and if I would wake up from it any second. Unfortunately, it was almost time for Shelby's mom to pick my dad and me up and I have yet to find an outfit. As I dug through my closet I could hear my dad talking to someone on the phone, apparently he was arranging a meeting with someone, probably for work. But I noticed he was talking very quietly. Oh, it probably didn't mean anything. I looked around my closet for something to wear. I wasn't sure what the beach was like. Or the nights here for that matter, where they warm or cool? I didn't know, so I took a guess and put on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I grabbed a jacket, just in case. And I walked out just as my Dad hung up the phone. I opened the front door ready to see Shelby, when I found Embry sitting in the front yard with no shirt. He looked up as he heard my dad slam the front door shut. Quickly, Embry looked up at me with a big smile on his face. I couldn't help but look dumb founded. What was he doing in my yard? With no shirt on?! I met him yesterday. And it was sort of chilly outside. I started to freak out about how my Dad would react to having this shirtless boy he didn't know, smiling at me, sitting on his yard. My Dad turned around and gasped. He nudged my arm.

"That's not Shelby. Is it?" He joked.

"Dad!" I looked at him feeling the blood rush to my face,

"No that is Embry Call. He goes to school with me and Shelby!" I hissed wishing my dad would leave the subject alone. To my shock my dad stretched out his hand and helped Embry up from the ground. I thought I saw realization flashed in my Dad's eyes but it could just be my mind playing tricks on me.  
"Well, Embry you look like a fine boy and it's nice to finally....uh, I mean it's nice to meet you," Embry looked as confused as I did by how polite and cool my dad was acting. Slowly withdrew his hand and slid it into his pocket.  
"It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Bard," said Embry, slowly letting a smile light up his face once again. My Dad pulled his keys out of his pocket and unlocked his car. I watched Embry turn around to the car parked in the garage. I guess it was a big deal because he blankly stared at it for, what felt like 5 minutes.

"You like it?" My Dad asked. He had his eye on this car since he first saw it, he's always told me that it is his nicest car he's ever had. I remember when we had an old beaten up car, he would force himself to go to work to save up to buy himself this car. I was pretty used to it. But I forgot what a big deal it is to any car lover.

"No way! You have a 2007 Chevrolet Corvette Zr1!!" He practically yelled. My Dad just laughed.

"It's nice, isn't it?" He said.

"YES!" He yelled and walked around it to get a better view. I would never understand boy language. My Dad laughed, he liked being the 'cool' guy.

"Want a ride? I assume you are going to the bonfire tonight?"

"Yeah I am. You're going to let me ride in that?" He asked, still excited. It's just a car.

"Yes. If it's okay with Kristi." Both boys looked over to me.

"Uh yeah, I wanted to go with Shelby anyway." And I did. Embry looked over in a 'thank you so much I love you' look. I looked away, embarrassed. I watched my Dad as he hit the button on hit keys that started the engine. Embry watched in awe.

"You sure you don't mind, kiddo," Dad whispered to me.

"Naw, I wanted to talk to Shelby about something. And it's not like the beach is far away or anything," I smiled and hugged him, because out the corner of my eye I saw a blue minivan pull up onto the driveway: Shelby. I looked up to my Dad, he was sliding a pair of sunglasses on, being the cool guy again and sank into the car, followed by Embry on the other side. I ran up to Shelby's car and opened the door. Shelby sat in the seat across from the door I opened. She stared out the windshield at the car. So my hopes of her not seeing Embry were a failure.

"Hey Shelby," I tried to lighten the mood. She didn't answer me.

"Look I know you're mad. But I don't know what I did," I whispered. She just sighed.

"What did I do wrong, Shelby?" I asked. I needed her to talk about it with me.

"Nothing! That's the problem. You did nothing. I've liked Embry for a year and you come along and he immediately likes you. It's not fair!" She spoke up but kept it a whisper.

"So why are you mad at me?" I asked, starting to get mad.

"I don't know I just am! I thought maybe you guys would be good friends and I still had a chance but when he gave you his phone number I knew it was over!"

"I'm sorry for talking to someone, gosh." The rest of the ride was quiet. Neither Shelby nor I spoke a word. A few minutes later, her mom drove up on a gravel parking lot; I opened the door and got out.

"Thank you for the ride Ms. Cassandra," I said as she wheeled down her window.

"No problem. You guys were quiet, everything okay?" I didn't know what to say, so I lied.

"Yeah," I smiled and walked away. I had only gotten a few steps when I heard it, the loud sound of a huge engine, coming closer. I stopped to see the corvette come down the road, pretty fast. I could see the figures. My dad had his driving smile on his face it made me laugh because next to him was Embry with the goofiest grin on his face. Now was the time I thought to myself, "I don't know these people. And I am certainly not related to one." That thought made me laugh more. The car skidded to a stop, parallel parked. Embry hopped out of the car and started towards the beach stopping as he saw me sitting on a broken log. The memory of what happened in the car with Shelby came back and I started to cry. I couldn't help but feel horrible about what happened between Shelby and me. She was mad at me for Embry _possibly_ liking me, which happened to be unlikely. For some reason Embry felt like family and nothing else. He was a friend and that was all I could ask of him.  
I sniffled, at this point I couldn't help but let myself cry; crying seemed to be a very embarrassing part of me. How could one guy make someone so upset? It just wasn't fair.  
I tried to straighten up as Embry came closer to me, but it seemed impossible as my eyes were red and swollen from crying, not to mention I had the sniffles now.  
I could hear Embry's footsteps grow faster as he came into view,

"Kristina, are you all right? What's wrong?" he sounded worried, which didn't help.  
"Nothing, it's stupid. I'll meet you on the beach in a minute," my voice was thick from crying.  
I wish I could go home but that would make my dad disappointed.  
Once again, Embry sat on the ground in front of me and started rubbing my leg; it was very soothing and made me wish I had a brother like him. I tried to stop the tears. It wasn't my fault. But the only thing that kept running through my mind was that I'd lost my first friend I made here. I felt like the most unlucky person alive.

"Shhh I'm not going anywhere. First, stop crying so you can tell me what's wrong," he insisted. I tried my hardest to do as he said. I pushed the sad part back in my mind. I would have to cry sometime but not now. I didn't want my dad to see me this way. But I just couldn't do it. I was surprised that my dad just walked past us, down the beach to where there were voices. I couldn't hold the tears in anymore. I started crying again.

"Shhh calm down. Tell me what happened," he begged. He looked like he was hurting too. I tried to get my breath back. When I did, he stopped rubbing my leg and sat up next to me, holding my right hand.

"It was nothing, you don't need to know," I said. I was embarrassed at how I let such a little thing make me break down.

"Tell me," he said. And all I wanted to do was tell him. I explained everything word for word, what she said and how I responded. At the end he had hurt in his eyes. I looked up to find Embry shaking his head in disappointment.  
"Embry I didn't mean to upset you. Somehow my day went from great to horrible and now I'm making everything worse." I started sobbing once again.

"I know. I feel like I've made a huge mess though. I'll fix it, don't worry. Just please stop crying," he whispered. He stroked my hand with his thumb as he talked, looking down at it. It was the first time I noticed his hand was huge, much bigger than mine. I nodded and eventually stopped. He was still stroking my hand as I stopped sat up in one fast motion. I couldn't believe how fast his reflexes were, but that was beyond the point. I could only think about one thing now: what he meant by "I'll fix it, don't worry."  
I quickly stood up as he took off for the beach; I had to run to keep pace with him,

"What are you going to do, Embry?"  
"I'm going to fix this, I can't let you take the blame for my stupid mistake." his hands were shaking. I didn't know what to say, I was lost of words. I tried to keep pace with him as Shelby came into view, I knew exactly what he was about to do; He was going to ask Shelby out just to make everything better between us.  
My breathing became heavy as realization hit me; he was going to date someone just to fix our friendship.  
Shelby turned my way as she saw I was running to keep up with Embry, quickly the smile melted from her face. She suddenly started glaring at me, making me want to cry again. I held the tears back. But the sniffling started again. Embry slowed down so I could walk next to him.

"Shhh no crying," he whispered. I tried to follow his order as hard as I could. Quickly he walked up to Shelby and tapped her on the shoulder, letting a fake smile cover his face,

"Hey, Shelby I was wondering if you would like to go for a walk together?" his voice sounded bored and somewhat sad. Shelby turned to look at her friends with a bored expression on her face and quickly told them,

"I will be back in a few minutes." Together Shelby and Embry to off down the beach. I had no idea what to do now except go talk to Jacob Black.  
I casually strolled over by the group of Quiluetes waiting for a chance to join them. Before my chance though, Paul, Embry's huge friend turned around and asked me to join them.  
Once again, I noticed the girl sitting near the edge of the trees with the same scowl on her face.  
Many thoughts ran through my head as we glared at each other, "_Why is she always so mad? Could it be me she hates? Or am I getting in the way of something?_" as I thought about these questions I noticed Shelby walking my way. Most of the boys stopped talking as she walked right past me. I had the urge to cry again. I didn't like the way our friendship turned. It seemed it was over. It was so quiet, I could hear her feet hit shells or pebbles. I watched Shelby as she walked up to her Mother. She must have asked something because her Mom nodded and stood up. I wasn't sure where they were going, but I had the idea we weren't friends anymore. I held in the tears because Embry told me not to cry. Why was I constantly sad? Depressed? I hated it. I was sitting next to Paul, who turned to look at me every few seconds, but I didn't want to look him in the eye. I just watched as my first friend here walked to her car to leave. It was at that point that I knew, that unless some miracle happened tonight that made me feel better, then there was no other option than crying myself to sleep tonight.


	4. Chapter 3: A Weekend Away

**Chapter 3:  
Weekend Away**

The week had passed by fast after the Bonfire. School was boring except for lunch, when I got to talk to Embry and his friends. On Thursday we made plans to hang out all weekend and I would just stay the night at Embry's. I was very surprised that my Dad was okay with this. I didn't think of Embry as a boyfriend, yet. He was just a very good friend. I had never had a boyfriend so I didn't know how it felt but I was pretty sure Embry didn't feel that way about me. Actually, I doubt I would ever think of him as a boyfriend but more like a brother. It happened to be a long weekend because of Labor Day so we had plenty of time to do whatever. I expected to go to the movies or just hang out so I packed a couple pairs of jeans and a few t-shirts. School went by slow today; maybe it was just because I was excited about hanging out with "the pack" as they called themselves later.

The plan was I was going to meet up with some of them at Embry's house after school. And I would drop off my stuff and then we would see what happens. Embry told me that we had no real plans. We'd just see what happened. I was kind of glad. I was tired of having everything planned out with school and homework. And my Dad was happy that I was getting to know people that lived around here.

As for Shelby, I was sure our friendship was over. She hadn't talked to me after the bonfire. She just walked past me. She didn't sit with me anymore. At first, I was upset but Embry calmed me down, I remember that he said,

"It's her loss. You are a great friend and it's her fault. You're too good for a friend like that," he had told me at lunch one day. After that, I started feeling a lot better about who and who were not my friends were.

In a way I missed having Shelby around, she knew what to say and when to say it but so did Embry. Shelby reminded me of Stacy, a lot, so every time I saw her it made me feel like Stacy was no longer my friend either.

Paul made me laugh a lot. I couldn't help but smile now when I saw him. He was like the older brother I never had. On Wednesday, he stood up for me when a kid tripped me in the cafeteria, not to mention he almost got all the Quiluetes involved, except for the girl who was always mad, and she happened to be named Leah. Leah just laughed at me when I tripped, but she got what she deserved when Embry embarrassed her in front of the whole school by pulling her pants down when we had gym. I just had to laugh at that. She stomped away to the locker room.

It started to seem, to me, that all of the Quiluete boys seemed like my brothers. They always made me laugh when I felt bad, which, for me, was a lot. They made me smile and think. And someone was always there for me. They became my best friends at school.

I looked up at the clock during Math. Embry noticed.

"Excited, are we?" He joked. I nodded and laughed.

Math was already over and I was on my way to Science when Paul caught up with me,

"Hey Kristi! So are you excited about this weekend?" he asked. I turned when I noticed what he had called me. I sighed,

"My name is Kristina, not Kristi." Paul chuckled,

"Well, Kristi is shorter and it's easier to write," he winked. Lately, Paul and I would pass notes in Science trying to waste time and guess what random topic Jacob and his friend, Quil, would come up with. They started this "Would you rather" game and turned it into either an uncomfortable time or a gross time. Paul would just laugh and shake his head, but he'd answer the question. Quil would burst out laughing. And Jacob would laugh too. Me? I started to get a little worried about the teenage boys I was hanging out with. I had to admit, it was funny. Like when they wrote this…

_Jake: Would you rather__drink pee or eat dog crap?_ Quil wrote and passed it to Jacob. He put his hand over his mouth to stop from laughing. I watched as he wrote his answer and a question for me.

_Oh drink pee for sure. Kristi: Would you rather date handsome, smart and strong me or Paul?_ Jake wrote and passed it to me. Paul read it and he leaned back in his chair, pulled his hand out and smacked the back of Jacob's head. He flinched after and rubbed the back of his head. I giggled.

"Answer it," Jake whispered.

_I'm not answering that. Forget it._ I wrote. I would have said it but I didn't want to get in trouble.Normally, we had teachers walking around the cafeteria to make sure we weren't talking about anything inappropriate, so we always had to bring paper and pencil to lunch. People normally stared at us as we would randomly burst out laughing from a question Quil would ask or we would start gagging from something gross Paul wrote. Lunch time was pretty fun. Science class continued as Paul and I passed notes debating on what topic Quil would come up with, and whether it would be gross or uncomfortable.  
I looked over toward the clock; we still had 10 minutes of class.  
_I still think Quil is going to make us play "would you rather" today, just like always_, I smirked as Paul started scratching his head with his pencil. He saw me slide the paper over and quickly made a gagging gesture as he probably thought about our last game of "Would you rather." By the time Paul slid the paper back over to me class was over and there was no point in arguing over it anymore; either way we would find out in less than five minutes.

I chucked my books into my locker when Shelby opened hers, ignoring my presence once again. I followed Quil down the hall way, noticing his binder and ten pencils. I smirked as I thought about Paul's face when he finds out that I won the bet, again.

Embry and Jacob greeted me as I walked into the cafeteria. Most kids had gotten used to the fact of me hanging out with all the Quiluetes, but as for the others they just stared at me when I entered the cafeteria.

I followed Jacob to a table outside and there was only one seat left and it was by Leah Clearwater. I couldn't believe I had to sit by her. Leah's brother, Seth, thought it was funny how we always argued, but I didn't. Seth was in the same grade as Jacob, Embry, Paul, Quil and I. As for the rest of the Quiluetes they had either already graduated or they were seniors. Leah was a senior, and of course she hated me for no reason. One day she told me I didn't belong with their "kind". Leah always made me angry and I could never understand why.

Today Jacob wanted to sit outside and eat lunch since it was sunny. I quickly sat down beside Leah having a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach, "Jacob. I have a bad feeling about today, like something bad is going to happen," I held my breath waiting for him to answer.

As he went to reply the over head speaker came on with the principal's squeaky voice, "All students report to the gym immediately."

I turned to Embry and he sighed along with Jacob, "Kristi. I think your right, so I want you to go to the gym with Embry and as soon as the assembly is over, go home with him, and that's an order," said Jacob. I crossed my arms about to protest when Embry put his hand up to stop me.

Hastily, Embry grabbed my hand and towed me to the gym to be followed by all of the other students. Everyone had a look of panic and confusion. I saw the principal standing on the other end of the gym holding the microphone, "I am sorry to interrupt your lunches everyone but we have an emergency. Shortly after third period we had a phone call from our police department stating that the Forks and La Push area has one of the biggest storms in our history rising. It is predicted to cause major flooding and many damages. We ask all students to please go get your belongings and report to your home rooms within the next ten minutes."

I looked up at the window to see the sun hidden behind many gray clouds. I couldn't help but stare as Embry stiffened, practically in shock, not knowing what to do. I knew my dad worked with my Aunt at the fire department but what worried me the most was whether he would be alright. Embry stood there for a minute before grabbing my arm once again and throwing me on his back. I looked behind me to see the school nowhere in sight. I could see the sky turning black as he ran off into the distance at an over whelming pace.

Within two minutes of the assembly I could see a little black house with a short narrow driveway. Embry turned and followed the path up to the door, "Welcome to your home for the next couple days."

I started to cry, I was so confused and I had no idea what was happening. I looked down at my phone to see, "1 MISSED CALL" across the screen. I opened the phone up to see my dad's phone number across the screen. He left one message. I walked up the porch stairs and sat down listening to my message, "Sweetheart, I am sorry but our side of town is being evacuated at this moment so I will need you to stay with Embry and his family for the next few days, maybe a week or two. I know you probably worried about me but everything is okay and I know you are in safe hands. Just trust me; I hope to see you soon. I love you. Bye."

I snapped my phone shut and threw it at the ground. Why did this have to happen to me? Why? I slumped down onto the nearest chair immediately throwing my hands up to cover my face. I could hear whispering as I lifted my head to find all of my friends sitting around me; I could feel Paul starring into my back.

"I'm sorry Kristi. I know it must be tough to have your dad risking his life but you always have your mom, "said Paul. I could feel a sudden burning on my shoulder as he gently laid his hand on my shoulder. For a second I thought his hand was on fire, since it was so hot. After, a couple minutes his words sunk in, I could no longer breathe. Panic rushed through me.

"My m-mom is..." I couldn't continue. I felt as though my heart would explode from all the pain and pressure inside of me. I looked around and saw Embry sitting on the opposite chair with his hands in fists.

There was no point in hiding my past no longer, "My mom has been missing s-since I was t-t-twelve," I looked up and immediately fell to the grown clutching my chest. I couldn't bear the pain washing through me. It was like my mom had just been here and in seconds she was ripped from my arms to never come back.

I looked around still clutching my chest; the sky was almost pitch- black from the storm. I could hear the rain hitting the concrete, like everything was in slow motion. Then, I could no longer hold my eyes open; I slowly let myself drift into the darkness I longed to avoid.

********************************************

I woke up to the sweet scent of Cherry Blossoms and Peaches. I couldn't remember what had happened earlier this morning; all I could remember was Paul's face. Then everything slowly turned black...

I sat up looking for any explanation of where I was. I saw pictures of Embry all over the house, along with his father. I could see no trace of his mother anywhere though. I looked around the room I was in. It looked like a spare bedroom. Mainly because it didn't have any personal items of anyone's and the walls were painted a neutral color. It was nice. I got off of the bed and walked to the door. I stopped and listened. I heard Embry talking softly downstairs, along with Paul, Quil, Jake and two girl's voices.

Slowly, I walked out of the room to find two identical twin sisters standing in my pathway. Both of them had light blonde hair that fell in beautiful loose curls down to their hips. They had startling light blue eyes along with a light skinned complexion. They were tall and thin and looked to be the same age as myself.

Both girls smiled, "Hey, you must be Kristi. I am Jessica-Storm, and this is my twin sister Rosalinda," she said.

I gulped, I could feel my stomach flipping around, "My names Kristina actually, but everyone just calls me Kristi." They both smiled at me. I wondered if they were Embry's friends too. The only girl I have seen hang out with them is Leah. But they seemed nice.

"It was raining pretty hard, so we decided to walk over here to see how you guys were doing. It's nasty out there. Starting to flood the streets," Rosalinda said. I nodded. Now that I thought about it, I could hear the rain on the roof. It was pouring down.

When I was younger I used to be afraid of storms. The lightning would scare me. It would light up the entire room and then go black again. And the thunder was loud. I remember one time when I was in the car with my Mom and Dad and it started to storm…

I couldn't help but cry then; I was only eleven at the time. My mom would always comfort me by singing the lullaby she came up with. It relaxed me whenever a storm would hit.

When I opened my eyes once again, still thinking about the past, I could see Jessica-Storm and Rosalinda talking to each other in hushed tones.

"Rosalinda where is everyone else?" I asked.

"Oh sorry, they are all in the kitchen," - for a moment she paused to look behind her - "You know Embry really cares about you, so I wouldn't worry about the storm right now." she winked at me and quickly her sister and herself walked down the hallway. I stood for a moment and decided to go see Embry and his friends. I walked into the kitchen and saw them all sitting at the table. Embry looked up before anyone else did.

"Hey," he said and smiled. I smiled back and pulled up a chair to the table, there wasn't a lot of room left because they were so big, but I squeezed the chair in between Jake and Embry.

"Almost half of Forks is flooded," Quil said. I guess they were talking about the weather. This made sense considering all of the curtains, in the whole house were closed except the one right by the table. The boys were staring out of it at the wet neighborhood.

I looked at the road through the window and couldn't believe my eyes; you wouldn't be able to drive down the street without getting water in your cars. Thankfully, there was a storm drain right in front of Embry's house, so if the street flooded we would have a little bit more time to get out.

I stared blankly at the table, slowly breathing. I was praying that my dad would be safe, for my sake and his. If he got injured, he would never be the same. I tried to take deep breaths to calm down. I felt my hands begin to shake. Bad thoughts ran through my mind. I tried hard to stop them but it was no use.

What if he drowns? Or gets hurt? What if he gets in a car accident? I tried hard to stop thinking about it but I couldn't. What if I never see him again? Like mom…. What if he disappears like mom? My heart started pounding in my chest. I closed my eyes to stop tears.

_Stop thinking about it, nothing's going to happen he'll be okay._ I kept repeating the words through my head. I wanted to believe them. I wanted to believe them so badly. But I had lost one parent and I didn't want to lose another.I saw Embry turn his head towards me in my peripheral vision, he was staring at me. It made me feel a little self-conscience. I turned towards him also and weakly smiled. I could see the pain in his eyes, it hurt me to look at him right now but I couldn't get myself to turn away.

"Kristi, would you mind coming to my room with me? I would like to talk to you in private," he stood up and slid my chair back for me. He quickly showed me to his room and sat on his bed patting a spot on his bed right beside him, indicating for me to come sit down.

"Okay, Kristi. All of the guys know about this and since you have became a part of the family so quickly, I think you have a right to know about it also," he looked at the ground making sure not to make eye contact. I knew this was something hard for him to say.

I took a deep breath, "It's ok Embry. You can tell me anything." I gently started rubbing his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

"Well, earlier you had mentioned your mom had gone missing when you were twelve and I wanted you to know... You're not the only one. My mom went missing when I was twelve also. I never really knew my mom because she left my dad when I was born but one day I received a phone call from some cops in Chicago, and they said my mother had went missing and they had yet find her. Finally they just closed the case," He looked up at me for the first time since we entered the room. That was interesting; it was almost the same exact thing that happened with my mom. But I didn't think I should say it. He looked upset. I put my hand on his knee, like he did to me at the beach. He stared down at it for a few minutes then sniffed.

"I just thought you should know," he said, quietly. I felt a weird pain. I'd always felt pain for any of my friend's if something bad happened to them. Like when Stacey's cat had died. She was upset and I was with her. But this was different. It was almost like I wanted to just cry with him and fix it anyway I could. I hated seeing him like this.

After a moment the silence was interrupted by the knocking of Embry's father, Christopher Call. As he entered the room you could see strictly two emotions: Shock and happiness.

Quickly he cleared his throat, "Embry may I speak to you for a moment. I think this information might startle you." He said. His father had a deep voice compared to my father. He looked a lot like Embry too.

Embry, quickly, wiped away his tears and followed his dad out into the hallway. I could hear their whispers as they talked.

I tip toed up to the bedroom door and pressed my ear up to it to clearly hear Embry and his father, "Embry, I know you will not believe me, but she is your sister," said Christopher.

"No, it can't be. You said I didn't have any siblings!" Embry hissed.

"Son, I know it is hard for you to except but she is your twin sister. Just look at the resemblance between the two of you. Ask her your birthday, or hers, I can bet it is September 13th, just like yours."

I heard no response after that and guessed the conversation was over, but I wondered who they were talking about. My birthday was September 13, but that could just be a coincidence. I mean, many people have the same birthdays. And I doubt Christopher knew me enough to be talking about me. So I let it go and sat back down on the bed. I could still hear the rain outside. But I couldn't stray my mind from my Dad. I didn't want him to get hurt. About 5 minutes later Embry walked back in and sighed. He shook his head from left to right,

"My dad is going nuts. No, nuts would be an improvement it's more like loony."

"Well why do you say that?" I asked.

"Okay, just remember my dad thinks this, not me... My dad thinks you are my twin sister."

I gulped. Could it be possible? Could it? My dad is at work though, and if I was Embry's twin sister wouldn't that make Embry's dad my real father?

"Embry have you ever thought your dad might be right?" I asked.

He looked at me with wide eyes, "You think we might be related?"

"Well it's possible. My mom's name was Eli-Elizabeth. What was your mom's name?" I spoke quietly.

"My mom's name was Elizabeth too." I could hear his breathing grow fast, just like mine did.

"Birthday?" He asked.

"September 13."

"What city are you from?"

"Chicago." I stated. "Wait… your eyes….your eyes!"

"What about them?" He asked.

"I know your eyes….. They were moms. You have mom's eyes"

"How is it possible?" He asked, worried.

"I don't know." I answered truthfully. If it was then I needed to speak with my dad, or "dad". What if Christopher was my Biological father? Then what would that make my dad?Nothing made sense anymore. Maybe it was time for me to go talk to Christopher.

"Embry do you mind if I go talk to your dad?" I asked. I wasn't sure what I would say to him but I would just improvise for now.

"No, of course not." I left on that note and headed for the kitchen. What would happen if Embry was my brother? Would I start living with them? Would I still live with my "dad"?

I entered the kitchen to have all eyes on me. It was awkward to have everyone staring at me but I had no time to be self conscience. I just wanted to know the truth.

I walked straight up to Christopher, "May I speak with you for a moment?" I asked somewhat politely.

"Of course Kristi."

He walked with me to living room and patiently waited for me to begin, "I was curious as to whether what you told Embry... was true?"

He smiled at me, "What do you think? You and Embry have a special bond that developed between siblings. You may not believe me but you will soon find out the truth from your father. Yes, you and Embry are in fact twins. When your mother and I were young though, we lived happily here but one day your mother was gone and so were you. I happened to guess she met someone else because we were not married at the time, but we were engaged. Part of it was her mother did not like me and would have done anything to have her daughter marry anyone else. Elizabeth was a lovely woman. We spoke the day before she went missing and arranged to meet again, once you both began High School. Apparently, your dad agreed and hoped for you and your brother to meet or else you would still be living in Chicago right now." He laughed and I hopped up to go talk to Embry again, but before I left, Christopher gave me a hug and said he's always loved me. I hugged him back, in awe. I didn't believe half of this. So say Embry is my brother….. Well that would be okay. I've loved him like a brother since I met him. I walked back to Embry's room.

"What'd he say?" He asked. He looked up as I walked in. I sat next to him and told him everything Christopher had said to me. About halfway through, I noticed his hands were shaking a little bit. I wondered why but I didn't bring it up. When I finished, we sat in silence for what felt like hours. I wanted him to say something. I wanted him to laugh or smile. But I knew that wasn't going to just happen. I sighed,

"I'm sorry about this; if you don't want me around just tell me." I looked to the ground feeling awful.

"No! It's not that. I love you and that will never change, I'm disappointed in my dad though. He lied to me all these years." he looked into my eyes and said, "Welcome to the family. I love you sis." He suddenly hugged me. It helped knowing I had more of a family than I thought. And I had to talk to my dad about this too.

"Embry I think we need to tell everyone else," I said. They all had a right to know since we are all best friends.

"You're probably right," he stood up and put out his hand for me. I took it and got up. We walked downstairs and everyone turned to look at us. I was suddenly very nervous. What were we supposed to say? You can't just walk up to your best friends and say that one of them is your brother, can you? I hesitated and looked up to Embry for help. He smiled and nodded.

"Guys we found out something important and think you have a right to know. We're…." he hesitated too. "Brother and sister." He said it fast, it sounded like one word. I was expecting some kind of surprise in their faces, but there was none.

Instead they all laughed but Paul was the loudest of them all, "You just figured it out?!"

How did everyone else already know? Yes, I might as well ask that, "How did you already know?"

They all started laughing again, "Go look in a mirror! The resemblance is undeniable and Kristi's dad told us."

My dad knows already. Of course he does, my mom probably told him years and years ago. Was it really that obvious though?

Embry and I went ahead and sat down at the table with everyone else. I had no idea what they were talking about before Embry and I had entered the room.

I cleared my throat, "So what were you guys talking about before we walked into the room?" I asked. I started to feel sick but I ignored it and continued with the conversation.

"Well, we were trying to guess what your dad was telling the both of you," answered Sam. I never really talked to Sam often; we have only spoken once before now, and it was not a very long conversation. Sam's girlfriend, Emily, was great though; she was sweet and down to earth, but whenever I talked to her I felt as though she was hiding something from me, just like everyone else.

I looked over towards Emily; she seemed content, "Emily, can I talk to you in private?" I asked. Of course, Embry asked what I wanted to talk to her about; I just told him it was nothing major.

She stood up from her spot and smiled. I took that as a yes on my part. Emily followed my every step until we were upstairs in Embry's room again.

"Sweetheart, what do you need to ask me about?" Emily asked.

I took a deep breath in, "I have a feeling...A feeling that you are hiding something from me." I looked straight into her eyes waiting for an answer. She sighed and laughed.

"Honey, we all have secrets and you will know about them soon enough. Don't fret over it just yet, Kristi," she smiled and stood up to leave the room.

Finally, I had enough surprises for a life time and headed off to bed.

**************************************

I woke up the next morning to find two boys in Embry's room starring at me. At first they scarred me but after I got up I was a little curious as to why they were watching me sleep.

They had yet to notice I was up so they continued their conversation, "This has to be Embry's sister, which means she should transform soon or the gene skipped her and went directly to Embry. Right?" said the boy.

Both boys looked different. One had blonde hair and baby blue eyes. He looked around the same age as me. He wore baggy worn out jeans and no shirt. The other boy looked also the same age as me. He had light brown hair that was spiked up and hazel eyes. He wore no shirt and baggy jeans also.

During my evaluation, I noticed I missed another part of the conversation, "...I'm not a doctor! Why are you asking me?!" I sat up ready to jump up, and stop a fight if it came to that, but I had forgot they thought I was asleep.

Both boys stared at me and I stared back.

"Who are you and why are you in here?" I asked. I made sure to have some authority in my voice.

The blonde headed boy answered first, "I'm Connor..."

"And I'm Cameron," answered the other boy.

I looked at the clock to see what time it was. It was already 11:30am.

"What are you doing in my room?" I asked once again.

Connor looked skeptical at first, "We wanted to see if it was true. Are you really Embry's sister?" he asked.

"Yes, I am." I answered. Before I could speak again both boys were out of the room and gone. I stood up and walked into the kitchen to find Embry sprawled out on the table asleep and everyone else in the living room asleep, other than Emily, who was in the kitchen making breakfast.

The rest of our weekend seemed plain and rainy.


	5. Chapter 4: Just Fine

**Chapter 4:  
Just Fine**

Embry and I walked into school together along with Paul, Jacob, Quil, and Seth. I was officially a Quiluete by blood, just like my brother. Apparently we received that similar trait from our mother.

I had yet to speak to my father since they were still dealing with the flooding on the east side of town. I missed him, but Embry's dad went ahead and registered me through my real name: Kristina Lynn Call. It will take a lot of getting used to. I went most of my life thinking I was an only child. And that the dad I was living with was my biological father, when it turns out he's my step- dad. Embry and I hadn't stop acting the same way as we did before mainly because we were acting like siblings before too. Maybe if I knew about this earlier, Shelby would still be my friend. But Embry keeps telling me that it's her loss that I'm not her friend anymore.

When I found out Embry was my brother I was shocked but I guess I expected him to be my brother or something. I loved Embry since I met him and him being a part of my family was the only simple explanation.

I walked up to my locker to find Shelby's things all over the ground and her frantically trying to pick everything up. I bent down to help her; even though she wasn't my friend anymore doesn't mean I can't be nice to her.

"Hey Shelby." I said. She ignored me at first and then sighed.

"What do you want?" you could hear the anger in her voice.

I took a deep breath in, "Shelby, I need to tell you something important. Will you please look at me?" Shelby still stared at the floor.

I immediately went to the point, "Embry is my twin brother!" I screamed. Shelby looked up, her mouth wide open and her eyes wide. I was angry. She owed me an apology for a lot of reasons. But something in me didn't want an apology. I handed her the pencil case that fell and stood up. I was breathing heavily from frustration. I could feel someone walk up behind me. But I kept my eyes on Shelby's. She didn't look away from me.

"Really?" She asked in awe. I wasn't sure if I should answer her. She didn't answer me for the past month, why should I answer her now? I just nodded and turned around. Paul was behind me and had a funny smile on. I started walking down the hallway next to Paul.

I couldn't believe her. Why would I lie about Embry being my brother? She's stupid to even think that!

I could hear someone running behind me. It was Shelby. At the moment I didn't feel like talking to her anymore.

She was panting, "I'm sorry for the way I acted Kristina. It was stupid, if only you would have told me before..." she stopped mid sentence. I looked behind me to see what she was staring at; it was Embry. He was shaking uncontrollably. Quickly I grabbed his arm and ran him outside before he did anything he would regret.

"Embry! Stop shaking! What's wrong?" I asked. He looked as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

"You shouldn't be around me when I'm like this," he said with a strain in his voice. His shaking had slowed but he was still shaking terribly.

"Like what?" I asked. Now that I thought about it, Embry has shaken quite a bit. Just then Jacob ran out and up to Embry.

"Hey, calm down bro." He said it with a type of authority. Embry closed his eyes and his shaking slowed to the point where it was just in his hands.

It made me wonder whether Embry had anger issues or a medical condition. I couldn't say anything though, because whether I was or not, I was labeled as mentally disturbed.

Embry walked me to History class and said he would see me in an hour and a half. Unfortunately, none of the guys, or girls in this case, was in honor classes. I was happy History was my only honors class though, so I couldn't complain.

I walked into the room to have all eyes on me. I felt like it was the first day of school all over again. I could hear them all whisper my name as I passed. It bugged me; I hated attention, mainly because I was a klutz.

Hastily, I walked to my seat nearly tripping over the table as I went to sit down. I was grateful no one noticed my stumble.

The teacher slowly started calling out the roll. My name was the last to be called, which did not help with all the attention, "Kristina Call?" the teacher asked. She seemed to be somewhat shocked by the look on her face.

Shyly, I said, "Here" She looked up at me.

"I think we have an error Ms. Bard." She looked back and forth between the paper and I.

"No Ma'am. The paper is correct. I am in fact Embry Call's twin sister." I said it loud enough for everyone to hear. They all turned back to look at me, which made me feel awkward; I felt like an experiment.

The teacher smiled, "Well, it's nice to know. Embry deserves a sister like you." I could not believe what I was hearing. Especially, since it was a teacher speaking.

History passed quickly after. I walked out to find Embry leaning on the wall outside of the History room.

"Hey sis. How was first period?" he asked. I could see him smirk as I glared at him.

"It was weird." I answered.

He smiled at me in a reassuring way, "It was weird for me too. I had a bunch of people asking me if the rumor was true." I laughed. I knew this would happen in the next week but I did not expect it to happen so fast.

As Embry and I walked along the halls I could feel my body tensing up; In other words I felt sick. Embry could tell too by the look on his face.

"Kristi, are you feeling ok?" He asked. I could hear the stress in his voice. I actually didn't feel too good. My stomach hurt and I had a bad headache. But I didn't want to add to the drama today.

"Yeah, don't worry about me." I tried to reassure him but it didn't work. We walked into math to have all eyes on us once again. We practically went through the exact same conversation with our Math teacher, as we did in our first period classes.

Our math teacher started us out with a few simple math questions. I couldn't focus from the worried feeling I had. I had no reason to worry, yet, I was anyways.  
I tried to pay attention while my headache got worse. I had never had a migraine before but I thought this was probably one. The lights hurt and my vision blurred a lot. I must have turned pale because my math teacher came up and asked Embry to take me to the health room.

He helped me out of the chair and into the hallway.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I just have a pounding headache. Maybe I should go home."

"Your Dad will still be at work." He said.

"Yeah, but he'll be home later." We walked into the office. An older lady came up and asked Embry what was wrong. I felt like saying _I can talk you know_. I guess I blanked out for a minute because the next thing I heard the lady say was, "Sure, I'll write a pass. Feel better Ms. Call"

"Uh….thanks." Embry walked me out to the doors. He had his arm around me so I wouldn't fall. I was stumbling a bit. We walked home, it wasn't far. I was exhausted when we got through the door so Embry set me down on the couch and went to the telephone. I must have been very tired because everything went black fast.

* * *

"Kristina? Oh gosh, please wake up…." I heard my Dad say. I tried to open my eyes, cautious of the light blinding me. It was dark, probably late. How long did I sleep?

"Oh thank god. How do you feel?" he asked.

"Fine, my headache's gone," I croaked.

"I feel really bad, but I uh…. Got an appointment….. I can stay if you need me to," he looked like he really didn't want to stay.

"No go. I'm fine Dad." He nodded and walked out the door. After he left, Embry walked around the corner, a scared expression on his face. He relaxed when he saw me awake.

"How do you feel?"

"Fine. Gosh why is everyone asking me that!! I'm not contagious or fatal!!! It was just a headache!!!!" I didn't realize I was yelling, his expression changed.

"Okay." He came over and sat on the floor next to the couch and turned on the TV. I fell back asleep.


	6. Chapter 5: News

**Chapter 5: News**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm taking over this fic so if anyone has any ideas, questions, or criticism please let me know. **** There is a surprise coming and this story and A New Day Approaches will blend together. Also I'm going to just change Kristina's age to 16, just for later reference. Please review. --CC**

A week of school went by really fast. My Dad has gone out every night. He said he had 'meeting'. Pshhh yeah right! Who has that many meetings at 10 at night every night for a week?

I hate secrets, especially when I'm the one who doesn't know it. Recently, I've felt that a lot of people are keeping things from me. I'm going to ask him about it tonight at dinner.

I finished my homework and was making dinner. He should be home from work any minute.

"Hey sweetie, how was your day at school?" The liar asked as he was walking in. Okay, maybe I was being a little hard on him. But why can't he just tell me?

"Fine, how was work?"

"Okay…. You make dinner?"

"Yeah. Pasta." He came into the kitchen and sat down.

"What's on your mind?" He asked. I guess it was going to be now then. I spun around so I could face him.

"Actually, I was wondering why you leave every night."

"I… have meetings….." Oh that was a pure lie. My Dad doesn't know this but the whole protect your kid from stuff, doesn't work on me. I can tell when he's lying.

"Okay fine……… I only didn't tell you because I thought you might be mad." I waited for him to continue.

"I loved your Mom very much…. But she's gone and…. I will always love her….. I met someone." ……………….. Woah……………………. Umm yeah didn't see that coming. I stared at him…. The thing was…. I really wanted to be mad, but I wasn't. I understand. I'm sick of being so depressed. I found myself wanting to know more about her.

"What's her name?" I asked. He smiled.

"Sue."  
"Where did you meet her?"

"Well…. You probably know a bit about her…. She lives in La Push…."

"How would I know about her?"

"Her son's Seth." Wow.

"That's so cool! Wait does Seth know?"

"Yeah… it was only you…. I didn't know how you would react. Would you like to meet her?" What surprised me was I really did.

"Sure. How long have you known her?"

"A while actually. Everything's moving fast. I really like her, Kristi." I was glad to see him happy. There was a knock at the door. I froze. Dad went and got it. I heard him open the door and walk out and close it behind him, probably telling her that I knew. I drummed my fingers. I can't believe I was nervous. I never thought about my Dad with anyone but my Mom. Of course I miss her. I also never thought that I had a brother! Or that my Dad was really my step- dad. I must have missed the door open.

"What's up..?" Seth asked. I looked up.

"Oh, you know, just found out my Dad's going out with your Mom…. _Nothing new._" He laughed.

"It's a little weird isn't it?" I nodded. He pulled out the chair next to me and sat down.

"My Dad died a few years ago from a heart attack… so I get it. You can't picture them with anyone else. But you get used to it. Hahaha you move here and everything changes. You got a brother and now this!" His laughing starts to make me laugh.

The door opened and my Dad and Sue walked in. The first thing I noticed was she was pretty. She was really pretty, and I didn't hate her because of the next thing that I saw. I saw a big smile on my Dad's face. The last time I saw that smile was when my Mom was with us. I had to try. It must have been raining outside, (Like it always does) because her hair was wet and she was wearing a jacket. Yet, Seth was wearing a t-shirt and shorts. I smiled when my Dad helped her get her jacket off. Then she turned and looked at me.

"Hello, I'm Sue," She said. I shook her hand. A funny noise came from behind me and then I remembered the pasta in the boiling water. I just got to it before the water boiled over. After I fixed that, I turned around.

"Hi, sorry. You want to stay for dinner?" I asked. She looked at my Dad and quickly responded.

"We would love to." She smiled.

Seth called his sister, Leah, who came over too. I served out the pasta. I was glad I made a lot because Seth could have eaten it all.

"So how serious are you guys?" I asked. My Dad laughed.

"Actually, we were talking about living together… but we wanted to talk to you first." He said. Leah sighed. Sue I was fine with, she was pretty and made my Dad happy. Seth was great because he was funny and smart. But Leah got on my nerves, I guess I just needed to know her better.

"Why?" I asked.

"We didn't know if you would be okay with it…" He said warily.

"Sure. It'd be fun." My Dad looked really surprised and mouthed thank you when Sue turned around.

The rest of dinner went by fast, Sue asked Seth and I about school, classes, grades, stuff like that. Leah didn't say a word the entire time, but I just ignored her. Sue seemed really nice. My Dad smiled every time she said something. Before long she looked at the clock.

"Wow, it's late. Time flies…" She said. My Dad pulled out her chair and opened the door for her. The rain had stopped for a moment.

"Thank you so much, Kristina, that was a lovely dinner." She said and kissed my Dad's cheek.

"Thanks Kristi, that was good." Seth said then burped and everyone laughed, well almost everyone.

"It wasn't the worst I've eaten," Leah said and walked outside.

"Bye," Sue and Seth said as they walked outside.

Maybe we could have a family again. Maybe I'll love Sue and Seth… and get used to Leah. Maybe… I'll- we'll- be happy again.


	7. Chapter 6: New Friend

**Chapter 6: New Friend**

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: Please let me know how you like this story. Reviews can make it better. :) Thanks to Lissa, hopefully we can write more with your character in it. please read, enjoy, and review :)_

For the next couple of months I really got to know Sue, Seth, and Leah. Sue reminds me a lot of my Mother, she's always smiling and doesn't let anything put her down. I really think that she is good for my Dad. We've become close, she'll take me to the mall to shop and out for dinner sometimes. Like Seth said, I've gotten used to the idea of her and my Dad together.

Seth has the kind of personality that grows on you. He's funny and loves to help people out if he can. He's so sweet. I'd consider most of the people in La Push brothers, but him more- so and of course Embry, because he is my brother! Plus it's way easier to say brother than my Step-Dad's girlfriend's son.

I've warmed up to everybody… except Leah. She's just the kind of snobbing I- hate-the-world-and-all-the-people-in-it kind of personality. But everyone else seems to live by ignoring her so I think I can too.

So when Sue and my Dad asked me if I was sure I was okay with us moving in together, I said yes. Whether that was a good idea or not…. I would find out.

The cool thing was I got my own room. I decorated it with blue walls and a whole bunch of posters, movie poster, celebrity poster, even animal posters, I had a big one of a wolf that I loved. When Seth saw it, he thought it was cool. When Leah saw it she huffed and walked past to her room. Yep, My room's right next to Leah's. My Dad was upstairs with Sue. Seth had his own room upstairs too. But Leah and I were on the ground floor. I liked my room though. I got to get a new bed; a double bed. It had a lot of light which made me happy. Leah spent most of her time in her room, mumbling angry things. I never heard her say a nice word.

For the first time in a while, it was sunny and warm outside. Being out of school for summer break, made everything feel better. Since it was nice out, Seth and I decided that we would go for a walk at the beach. On the way there we ran into Embry who tagged along. I took my shoes off once we got to the sand. I love the feeling of it in between my toes. It wasn't crowded but it wasn't vacant at the beach. There were a few people playing volleyball, a few guys walking with their girlfriends, and a few married couples smiling at each other. I loved days like this.

Embry was telling us about his 26th joke of the day when I noticed how much Seth was looking behind him. What was there? I guess the real question was who was there. The next time he did it I followed his gaze to a thin girl with wavy dirty blond hair, and blue eyes. She hadn't quite looked straight at him yet, but being a girl I knew that she was aware of her admirer. I couldn't help but smile. I had to give him a bit of credit, she was beautiful. She was talking with another girl. But I could tell that Seth was looking at her. I realized that I was staring at her so I turned back to the two boys in front of me. I guess I missed the punch line of the joke because Embry was blankly staring at Seth.

"What…?" He asked. Embry looked at me and shook his head.

"Hey Sethy Wethy, you do know that staring at a girl for a long time will start to scare her."

"I.. umm… don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh please, bro." He nodded his head towards mystery girl, I smiled. Seth turned around and looked at her again. Then he sighed and shrugged.

"What am I supposed to do?" He asked.

"Well, normally a friendship or more," he bounced his eye brows, "starts by umm talking!! But I'm not cupid so… why listen to me?" I laughed.

"Exactly. And it's not like you have a girlfriend!" Seth said. I could see that start to annoy Embry.

"Okay okay okay you two. Seth do you want to just walk by and always wonder what happened?" I asked. I suck at giving advice but maybe he'll figure it out.

"No."

"Do you just want to keep watching her from a distance and let her walk past?"

"No." He sighed.

"So……..?" I looked at him trying to push him to get it.

"Okay! Fine, I'll talk to her… but if she turns me down I'm going to kill both of you." Embry and I laughed.

"You're going to do great!" Embry and I both said at the same time. "Weird." Woah, we did it again. We both started laughing.

"Yeah.." Seth was bouncing up and down, taking deep breaths. I dug his hands into his pocket, nodded at us, and walked towards mystery girl. Embry and I were glad we were in hearing range of them. I really wanted to hear how this went. Embry sat down so I did too.

The girl she was talking to walked away and smiled, no doubt leaving a similar conversation to the one we had with Seth.

"Hey, I'm Seth." He said looking down.

""H-hi I'm Alyssa." She mumbled. Embry started laughing.

"Shush!!" I whispered.

"That's a really pretty name, for a pretty girl." Seth said, I guess he was getting more comfortable.

" Thanks…" I couldn't see if she was blushing but I imagined that she was.

"I'm going to be honest with you, Alyssa. My friends pushed me over to talk to you. Not that I didn't want to. I really… really did but was too nervous so they pushed me over and I'm glad they did but I really don't know how to do this so-"

"Do you want to go walk down by the water?" She said, cutting him off. He looked confused for a minute. Yes! Say yes!!

"Um yeah of course." He said. They started walking down the beach.

"We should follow them," Embry said, after they got out of hearing range.

"What? No!! Sicko! C'mon _we're _going to go back to my house and you can wait to grill him when he gets home." He nodded and we walked home.

A few hours later I heard laughing outside the door. Embry looked over at me and smiled.

"Don't be mean," I warned him.

"Yes ma'am," he saluted in the air. Seth walked in with a huge smile on his face. I got off the couch and walked over to the doorway. The girl walked in behind him. Seth closed the door and put his hand into hers.

"Hi, I.. Uh.. I'm Alyssa." She murmured. I smiled.

"Hey, I'm Kristina. I'm uh.." I wasn't sure whether to say sister or the long name for it.

"She's my sister and Embry is my friend." I smiled.

"Hey," Embry waved from behind me.

"Come in," he said, "I'll show you around." He started to walk down the hallway. Embry and I smiled and I sat down on the couch next to him. We listened to Seth and Alyssa.

"This is the bathroom… and my room."

"Bow chicka bow wow," Embry whispered and nudged my arm.

"Okay. Can we act our age?" I laughed. We went back to listening.

"Oh you mean you're IQ?" Embry said. I punched his arm as hard as I could but he didn't flinch. Stupid strong la Push boys.

"This is really cool. I like your room," Alyssa said. Embry burst out laughing.

"What?!" I asked.

"Someone likes someone's room…. Hint hint cough cough," he said. I just shook my head. No one would believe that we were related.

"Shhh…shhh I want to hear," I whispered.

"Oh can I see that?" Alyssa asked.

"Yeah hold on," Seth said.

"That's amazing." She said. I had to laugh with Embry on that one. Embry fell off the couch which made me laugh even harder. Now I knew that she was probably talking about Embry's trophies and awards from sports but it was just so funny what a teenage mind made it sound like. I was laughing so hard that I didn't hear them come downstairs.

"What are you guys laughing at?" Seth asked. I just had to laugh harder.

"Technically I'm not related to either of them," he said, "Come on, I'll walk you home."

I stopped my laughing for just a minute.

"Sorry, Bye Alyssa," my eyes were watering and before 5 seconds I burst out laughing again. Seth shook his head and opened the door for his new girlfriend.


	8. Chapter 7: Date

**Chapter 7: Date**

SETH'S POV

"Come on, I'll walk you home," I said. I tried to get Alyssa out of the house before Kristina or Embry could embarrass me anymore.

"Sorry, Bye Alyssa," Kristina said and started laughing again. I didn't know what was so funny but something told me I didn't want to know. I led her outside and gave a stern look to the two people laughing hysterically in my house and walked out into the cool air.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

"It's okay. They were cute," she shivered. I took my jacket off to give it to her.

"Here."

"No no, now you'll be cold," she argued. I chuckled.

"No I won't… trust me." I draped it over her shoulders. I don't think I was supposed to see it, but I saw he sniff the side of it and smile.

I held my hand out and she took it, intertwining her fingers in mine. I was nervous that she was going t say something about my temperature, but she didn't. I know how crazy it sounded but I felt like I knew her forever. Maybe I was imprinting on her, but it didn't feel like the way that Sam and Jake described it.

"So I'm going to see you again, right?" I said.

"Well, I hope so. I gave you my number at the beach. Just call me, okay?" She said. I smiled and nodded. It felt so normal to be around her, so right. It felt like we had been going out for years. It most certainly did not feel like I met her a few hours ago.

There was a dip in the road that wasn't visual and she tripped. My instincts being so quick, I grabbed her arm to steady her, while doing so I tried to pull her closer to me.

"Are you okay?" I asked. She nodded.

"Yeah umm fine." We walked the rest of the way in silence. Could she piece it together? Would it freak her out if she found out that I wasn't human, that I was a werewolf. I'd have to tell her at some point. All these thoughts left my mind when she said,

"That's it," she pointed to a beautiful little brick building surrounded by trees. It had flowers all around it and a small little pathway up to the front door. It looked like a house in a fairytale. I stopped at the end of the path just to look at it.

"What?" She asked. I shook my head and smiled. She smiled as we got to the front door and turned around. I swallowed hard. I've heard from a bunch of guys, movies, and books that what the guy does at the end of the first date stays with him for a long time. So yeah, I was nervous. A hug, handshake,… kiss? Ah crap, thinking about that last one made me wonder what it would feel like.

"I had a great time with you, Seth," she said. I swallowed again. Okay so if a kiss, what type? On the cheek, on the lips, this was too hard, how did any guy deal with this pressure? I took a deep breath and decided a kiss on the cheek would have to do. I didn't want to come on too strong.

I bent my face down to hers and lightly kissed her left cheek. She rested her hand on the side of my neck. I pulled away but her hand stopped me from going more than a few inches away from her face. Her eye brows were furrowed, she looked like she was deep in thought. I didn't know whether to stay there, to move forwards or break myself out and say goodnight. Somehow my instincts told me not to pick the last option. I watched her as she breathed slowly and heavily. I decided that there could only be one reason why she didn't want me more than a few inches away from her face. And I was going to take the risk.

I put one hand on her back and one on the side of her neck. I could feel her heartbeat from her neck. It was going about as fast as mine was at that time. I smiled a little bit at the comfort that she was as nervous as I was. I bent my face forwards again, really slowly, if she didn't want to kiss me she could have pulled away after the kiss on the cheek. It felt like it was taking me hours to reach her face. I bent my face to the left and she slightly tilted hers to her left, at least I think I saw her tilt it. I took a deep breath and closed the distance quickly. Her lips tasted like peppermint, they were sweet and soft and perfect. Her hand on my neck molded around it. I wanted to stay in the very same spot for the rest of my life but I knew that she was human and needed to breath so I pulled my lips away. But she stopped me again.

I didn't know what she wanted. I know I had a confused look on my face. She had a slight smile. She pulled my neck so my lips met hers once more. For a few seconds I was back in heaven then she dropped her hand a pulled away with a huge smile on her face. I bet I had a big one too. I dropped my hand on her neck and back and sighed. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it again.

"Call me soon," she said while opening the door. She turned back and smiled. I nodded to let her know that I would. I soooo would. Then she shut the door. Did that just happen? I felt exhausted all of a sudden and decided I should probably get some rest. I walked home with a smile on my face.

I opened the door. Kristina and Embry flooded me with questions. I didn't hear a word.

"Tomorrow. Not now." I murmured and walked to my room. I couldn't stop thinking about her. Her hair, her smile, her eyes,… her lips. I drifted off to sleep about the most beautiful girl that ever was born on this planet.


	9. Chapter 8: Promise

**Chapter 8: Promise**

BACK TO KIRSTINA'S POV

2 weeks past and every single day Seth had gone out with Alyssa. I was happy that he found somebody. But being a girl, I ached for that. I wanted somebody to hug me and make me laugh when I feel like I'm about to cry. And times like that have been happening more and more often since Leah still treats me worse than garbage.

She either doesn't talk to me at all, or mumbles insults or disagreements like I can't hear her. News flash: I can!!! It hasn't gotten any better; it's gotten worse. I'm not really one to get angry or pissed off too easily but lately I have been.

A big surprise was when Leah asked about Seth's girlfriend, she had apparently known her before. Apparently they went to the same summer camp one year and were best friends for the entire camp, then they just lost touch. I don't see how anyone can be friends with Leah though. She doesn't treat Alyssa too well, but she treats her a lot nicer than she treats me.

Sometimes I just wanted to strangle Leah. I wanted to punch, yell at her, just scream. The worst part was that I never did a single thing to her. Yet, she treated me like her worst enemy. It's almost like she knew how to make me mad. Like she had to. Like she was testing me or something. Lately, everyone has been looking at me weird, like they still had some secret they weren't telling me.

I asked Emily about it again, but she just said,

"Don't worry. If you're meant to know you will." That didn't help. I started having nightmares, not every night but at least one a week. I've also grown about 6 inches taller and I feel stronger every morning. I guess it was just the walks on the beach or to one of the boys' houses.

I was looking outside at the clouds rolling in, looked like there was going to be a storm tonight. Leah walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

"The weather doesn't look that good," I said, trying to start a conversation. She just shrugged.

"What do you think?" I asked.

"Honestly, I don't really give a damn," she spat. My heart started racing and my hands balled into fists, I wanted to yell at her. I was about to but my Dad and Sue walked in together.

"Can I talk to you outside, Leah, please," I said through my teeth. My jaw was clenched. I grabbed my jacket in case it started raining and stormed out of the door. I heard her walk out following me. At least she listened to me for one. I walked down the street trying to cool off. I was going to find out what her problem was! When we reached the sand of the beach, I dropped my coat and turned around. She was about a foot away from me with a bored look on her face. I took a deep breath.

"What is your problem?" I demanded. She looked straight into my eyes.

"You," she murmured. I never did anything to her!

"What?! What did I ever do to you?" She looked completely bored which made me even angrier. "Please! I want to know! Huh? Or are you just a jerk to anyone you ever meet?"

"You shouldn't have moved here," she said, she wasn't mad at all.

"Well, I'm so sorry, Leah. You think I like being here all the time. My life turned upside down since I moved here! I found out that everything I thought I knew was fake! A Lie!" I yelled in her face. She smiled.

"What are you smiling about?!" I yelled.

"You. You're pathetic," she said and chuckled.

"Oh I'm sorry. Please tell me how to get through to you!"

"Oh my god. Just yell at me!! Scream!! Hit me!! I dare you!" She yelled and started breathing faster. It was weird though. She was taking deep breathes. Like she wanted to allow herself to look angry but she didn't really want to be or just wasn't.

"Why are you trying to make me mad?!!!" I had tears in my eyes. My hands were still in fists and I really wanted to hit her, smack that grin off of her face. She started laughing again.

"See I knew you were chicken. I bet your Mom left because of you! I bet that she was disappointed and left. I bet she's still alive and hasn't thought about you in years!" the tears escaped my eyes.

"You're so screwed up! Yell! Fight back!! I want you to!! Stop crying!" Why was she so mean to me. I started shaking. My vision blurred.

She shoved at my shoulder and I fell back, I caught my balance. She didn't push me very hard, but it hurt like hell. I tried to lift my arm to push her back but she pushed me again. I caught a look in her eyes that I don't think I was supposed to see. It was pain, like she had to do this but didn't want to. Maybe I made that up.

"STOP!" I yelled.

"No, hit me back, fight back!" She blinked back tears herself. The rage had hit my whole body, I felt like I was on fire. Everything hurt. I couldn't stop shivering and shaking. I couldn't see straight. Every time my heart beat, my chest hurt. I heard a whimpering sound escape my mouth and I felt like I would pass out.

"I'm sick of you pushing me around! I never did anything to you! I hate you!! I Hate you so much!" I cried. A huge shiver ran down my spine and a small look of concern entered her face.

"Damn," she said and looked at me. I was having trouble breathing.

"What's the problem now, huh?" I spat. I felt like I was going to throw up.

"They were right," she mumbled. Her hands were shaking. Another big shiver rippled through my body.

"Why doesn't anyone ever tell me what's going on? Who was right? I want to know!!" I screamed out in pain ad almost doubled over. Leah put her hand out to steady me. I shrugged it off. I didn't want her to touch me.

"Look, Kristina, you will know everything in about 1 minutes but you have to promise me something," she said and put her hands up, like she wouldn't hurt me. She took a small step backwards and I took a step forwards, almost falling because my legs felt like lead. She moved her hand out again but pulled it back.

"Why should I listen to you?!" I yelled. She took a deep breath and stepped back again, this time I didn't dare move my feet.

"Because I know how you feel right now. Your body feels like it's on fire! Your stomach feels like it's been twisted into a dozen knots! Your eyes hurt! Your legs ache! You can barely hear me right now because of the sound of the blood pulsing in your ears!! I know!!! Okay? Listen to me!! You only have about 30 seconds and something is going to change. You have to promise not to run away!! It will all make sense if you listen to me! I don't care if you hate me for the rest of your life but I am honestly trying to help you right now!!" As much as I wanted to scream no and that I wanted to just run away, something made me really listen to her words, she did know what I felt like right now. I slowly shook my head. She started shaking violently with me.

"Please! I will tell you anything you want to know! You have to trust me!!" She had tears in her eyes. I doubled over in pain and she dropped down next to me.

"JUST PROMISE ME!" She screamed right into my ear. I was balling. I looked up into her eyes and nodded.

"I'm scared," I whispered. She took a deep breath and pulled me to the edge of the woods.


	10. Chapter 9: Big Change

**Chapter 9: Big Change**

I screamed as loud as my lungs would let me. I tried to drop to the ground again but Leah held me up. She had her arm wrapped around my shoulder and was trying really hard to keep me standing. Another huge shiver rippled through my body.

"I thought you said thirty seconds?!" I yelled. She was breathing slowly and trying to stay calm but how could someone stay calm when they are holding up a screaming 16 year old girl.

"I know. It's okay. The pain's going to go away." She whispered trying to calm me down. I couldn't feel anything in my body, I was completely numb, well that's not all true. I couldn't physically feel them but mentally everything burned, like I was thrown into a flame.

"What's going on?" I cried. Tears ran down my face. A huge shiver went through my body and I gagged nearly puking all over the ground in front of me. I wanted it to stop. Everything just stop. I've been depressed and really low but this is the first time I've really wanted to die so badly. I didn't hear him come up until he started talking.

"Hey, um the parents told me to come down and make sure you guys didn't kill each oth-" he started slowing down when I looked at him. He swallowed and stared at me. Was I going to die? Was the pain ever going to go away?

"Seth. Seth listen to me!" he looked up at Leah, "Go get Sam or Jacob!! Whoever you see first! Run! As fast as you can! Don't stop!" he nodded and ran down the beach. Wow, he ran fast. He started taking his shoes off and disappeared.

"Leah! Make it stop! Make the pain go away!! Leah!! What's happening to me?! I thought you said it was going to be quick!!!!!!!!!" I yelled. The biggest shiver yet, ran all the way up my spine till my head whipped back with pain.

"It will!" she said. "You have to stand on your own. I can't be near you!" Why? I grabbed her hand as she took a few steps back.

"Kristina, I'm not leaving. I'm just going a few feet away because I don't want to get hurt." She said. I lowered my arm. Why would I hurt her? Another ripple ran through my body. She stared at me, trying to keep her tears from escaping her eyes.

"I know. It's okay. It will all make sense soon. I'll explain it all," she said, I think it was more to comfort herself than me. I was defiantly going to get an explanation if this pain ever left my body. Another ripple through my body. My muscles were so tense, they ached even more. Why was she just watching me? Why didn't she run for help too? Why did she tell Seth to go get Sam or Jacob? What help would they be unless one of them was a doctor? Another ripple through my entire body.

"Just a little bit longer!" She yelled and took one more cautious step backwards. 5 more violent shakes ran through me. One after another they kept coming. I could see straight so I just closed my eyes. Another. Another. Another. The pain grew so much worse I was sure that I would die any second. Then a ripple so big that I almost fell over ran up my legs, up my spine, through my arms, and up my neck. That was the worst pain I've ever felt. My face lifted up and I fell on my hands and knees… at least I thought I did.

The pain wasn't close to being gone. But it had subsided in a few places. I was breathing really heavily. I heard a loud sigh. I was scared to open my eyes.

"Um… Kristina?" I heard Leah ask. Her voice sounded different. Like I heard every tone and breath that she took. It was weird. I was starting to freak out. Why did everything feel weird?

"Umm.. you can open your eyes but remember what you promised me." She said nervously. I didn't want to open my eyes. Something felt wrong, not normal, not normal at all.

"Come on, it's okay," She said, quietly and took a step towards me. When she moved something really weird happened, something made me turn so quickly, my eyes shot open and I growled at her. Woah, I just growled! She slowly put her hands up like a defense mechanism. I took a step back.

"You promised!" She yelled. "Look I know how freaked you are right now." Oh I bet she didn't. "Let me explain." She stood waiting for an answer. How was I supposed to answer her? I stood frozen.

"Um… okay? It will be a lot easier if I phased too." Phased? Is that what I did? What did I phase into?

"Right, um, don't freak out…" she said. Like I could be even more freaked out. She looked at me and closed her eyes. For a few seconds nothing happened. Then she started shaking and a lot of things happened at once. First her body kind of flipped, not really but she jumped forward and when her hands should have hit the ground, big grayish brown paw landed in the dirt. I looked up into Leah's brown eyes as she shook her fur. This was probably the weirdest day of my life. She sat down in the dirt. She wasn't paying much attention to me for a minute. She lifted up her right paw.

_Ugh my fur is a mess,_ her voice echoed through my head. What was that? How could we communicate if we were animals? And was I really a wolf? She looked at me.

_Yes, you are_, she said. How did she hear that?

_Oh, it's a thing that we can do, try it, try saying something in your thoughts,_ she looked at me, waiting. How?

_Try it_, she pushed.

_Um what am I?_ I thought. I actually heard it in my mind.

_You mean right now or overall?_ She looked bored again.

_Does it matter? I'm not human!!_

_Yeah, Jacob will be here soon and will explain it better._ She said and opened her mouth and panted. I sat down in the dirt to think. So Jacob's a wolf too? This has got to be a dream, or a nightmare.

_Oh come on it's not that bad, it's not like you're a filthy bloo-,_ she was cut off by another person's thoughts.

_Leah! Shut it!_ Jacob's voice echoed through my head. It had a sense of authority in it. Leah listened and sat down. I focused on the voice I just heard and felt the rush of trees going past him as he ran closer and closer to where we were. Then a few seconds later, a huge russet brown wolf appeared out of the trees behind Leah; she didn't even look up.

_Okay. So do you know what you are? _Jacob asked. I was about to answer when I heard a raspy laugh in the back of my head, I knew that laugh.

_Hey Kris! Let's see who can act their age now?_ My brother said and laughed. Jacob growled.

_Maybe next time you won't be so quick to judge me, puppy!_ He laughed. Jacob growled louder and I took a step back.

_You're scaring her,_ Leah thought. Embry laughed in the back of my mind and I could just tell he was rolling around on his back laughing so hard.

_Shut up Embry!_ I thought. I was just getting used to all of this.

_Just saying, now who's immature?_ He joked.

_Okay! Enough! Stop it!!_ Jake yelled in our minds. Leah looked up. I quickly shut up. I understood why Leah got quiet when Jake yelled at her. I guessed he was Alpha, since I couldn't say anything else and was kind of frightened by him.

_Doesn't feel too good, does it? _Leah said. Jacob turned to her and glared. He took a deep breath and turned to me.

_Look, not to interrupt your orientation here, but we have to get back to dinner. Her Dad doesn't know, _Leah thought.

_Fine. Then you explain the rules to her,_ Jacob said.

_I will, master, _she bowed and laughed. Jake just huffed and started running through the woods.

_And I'll explain how to phase back,_ Embry came into view.

_Ohhh noo I will teach her, I don't think she wants to phase back in front of you!_ Leah glared at Embry.

_I don't mind,_ I said. Why could only Leah teach me? At the moment I thought it, Embry started laughing.

_Yes, you do, goodbye Embry,_ Leah said harshly. Embry howled and ran off in the direction of his house.

_So how do I do this?_ I asked. Leah turned to me.

_Just completely calm yourself. And think about being human again. Try it,_ she said calmly. I took a few deep breaths and closed my eyes. I wasn't quite sure how to think about being human so I just pictured myself human. Nothing happened at first but I kept trying. I needed some sleep. After a little while I opened my eyes and looked at my hands. Leah threw me some clothes and I threw them on as fast as I could.

She started walking back. I took a step and realized I was still in pain. Leah stopped and walked over helping me take a one step after another.

"Leah, why am I still in pain?" I asked. It wasn't nearly as bad as it was before I changed, but I still ached.

"You will for a little while. You'll be fine," she said. When we got inside, I nearly collapsed. I was really tired.

"Hey!… What happened?" Sue asked. I must have looked like I had been beaten up or something. I was about to say something but Leah talked before I could.

"I punched her," she said. I looked up to her. She did not punch me. Well she pushed me, but she didn't punch me. Was she covering for me?

"Leah! Apologize and go to your room," Sue said.

"Sorry, Kristina," she murmured and walked down the hallway to her room. Wow. Sue walked over to the cutting board and cut up some carrots. I watched as she brought the knife down on her finger. She inhaled sharply and moaned.

"Oww!" I said. I had a sharp stinging sensation on my finger, I looked at it but nothing was wrong with it.

"Are you okay, Kristina?" My Dad asked. I felt my finger. That was really weird.

"Umm, yeah. You know, I'm really tired. I don't feel so good, I think I'm just going to go to bed." I said. My Dad nodded and I walked down the hallway. Leah's door was cracked open, she was on her computer.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow," she said before I could say anything. I nodded and went straight to bed that night. Sleep was followed by yet another nightmare.


	11. Chapter 10: More Pain

**Chapter 10: More Pain**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I may have some time line errors in the future, I'm sorry, I'm completely making this up as I go, without notes in order. Please Read and review with ideas, questions, or advice/criticism. **

Leah explained everything to me to the next morning after she woke me up screaming. I had a really bad dram that night. She told me everything that I could do. She told me why I was here. And she told me about vampires. That part freaked me out. There are really people who suck blood and kill people. Apparently, there is a family of 'good' vampires that lived not too far from here that we had a treaty with. I didn't feel too happy about negotiating with killers but I wasn't really one to judge, I was a dog.

So I'm a dog. Yup! A freaking werewolf, or actually technically shape shifter. I run at a 112 temperature and haven't phased since the first time. I was too scared. I still ached but it was nothing compared to what I felt like when I changed. Everyone around me was helping me through it. Mostly everyone knew in La Push, (or was one,) except a few people, like my Dad. I mean my real Dad did, but my Step-Dad didn't, so I had to be careful at home.

I started hanging out with Leah more. She explained that Sam had told her to do anything to get me to phase because I was delayed, and it was taking a lot longer than all of the others. They're still not sure why though. But I felt closer to Leah, one because we were the only girls in the pack and that she was the one who helped me through it all the most. If something scared me I would go to her. She still wasn't the nicest to me but it was okay because for some reason I just understood her. I started getting used to my new life. But more weird things started happening.

Like really weird things…. I started hearing voices. Not all the time. Just if I thought about it really hard. And they weren't scary, just really weird. Leah said it was nothing to worry about but I knew she was just lying to make me feel better. I could see the look in her eyes that would made her a bit nervous.

Also, my emotions and feelings were out of whack. One second I would be happy, then the next I was upset or mad. I seemed more depressed and angry lately. Maybe Leah was rubbing off on me.

A couple of weeks past and the boys had persuaded me into phasing a few times. I didn't do it for that long but I was pretty used to it. But I still ached. Whenever I asked anyone about it they changed the subject, I pretty sure they didn't have an explanation.

I was sitting in the kitchen talking to Leah. She was eating something but I had a loss of appetite. I really wanted to know why I ached.

"Leah, I really want you to tell me what you think about my muscles still aching," I asked, looking down.

"Maybe there's something wrong," I heard.

"Like what?" I asked and looked up. She looked confused.

"What do you mean, like what?" She said.

"You just said, 'maybe there's something wrong?'" I stated. She slowly shook her head.

"I didn't say that… Any more voices?" She asked. Whenever something like this happened, they always asked me a bunch of questions trying to figure it out.

"No," I shook my head and rested it on my folded arms.

Times like these started happening more and more often. I couldn't figure out what I was doing. I just thought about what I asked and sometimes I heard the voices and sometimes I didn't. I started getting headaches more often too. I wasn't sure if that was relevant or not.

I was walking down the hallway in school with Leah.

"Ugh, I'm so tired, Leah!" I moaned. She smiled.

"Just got to get through two more periods then u get a couple of days off." She said. For some reason I felt nervous. I just couldn't wait to get home. But I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I walked into math class. This class I had with Leah, Embry, Seth, Quil, and Jacob. I sat down and pulled out my notebook, ready to daydream. I wonder if I could get the voices in my head again. I thought about it really hard.

"Come here!" Someone yelled. "Stupid son-of-a. I'm gonna kill you!"

"I swear, I didn't do anything!!" The second voice sounded frightened, really frightened. I wanted to stop the voices, they were freaking me out because these were different, they were scary, like real scary. I tried really hard to get the voices out of my head but I couldn't.

"Please! I didn't do anything, I swear!" The second voice pleaded. I shook my head and rubbed it.

"You okay?" Leah whispered from behind me. But I couldn't answer. I felt like I was in a trance. Like I was in the second person's mind. And I really wish I wasn't. I gripped the desk in front of me. I breathed slowly and tried to get rid of the voices again.

"Why should I believe you?! You ruined my life! Now you're going to pay!!" The first person yelled and I could tell instantly that there was a threat. I was barely aware of my body going through the trembles that would cause me to phase, but I was completely stuck in this trance.

"Please, please, please! I'll do anything! I can fix it!" The second voice cried.

"No. You can't. But I'm going to end it." He said in a menacing voice. I heard my teacher call on my for an answer.

"What's number two, Kristina?" She asked. I couldn't answer her. I couldn't even see her.

"No! Don't plea-" One thing was the voice stopped there. But I didn't have any time to refocus myself before I inhaled sharply and screamed.

I felt as if I had been stabbed in my right side. I fell out of the chair and screamed again. The pain was unbearable. I could feel my arm loosing feeling. I felt as though I was being brutally beat. My body was showing no sign of harm but I could feel the pain.  
"What's going on?" I heard the teacher say. "Take her out to the health room." He said. I felt a lot of hands lift me up. I clutched at my side. It felt like there was blood running down my body from my side but when I felt it there was nothing there except my shirt.

I knew that they wouldn't go to the Health room. I felt the cool air outside as they pulled me out of the school.

"Kristina, what hurts?" Leah asked me quietly. I was fighting for breath. I tried to speak but no words were coming out. What was going on? I thought I had already transformed?

"The pain!!" I managed to get out.

"Is where? You have to tell us." She said. I felt myself being set down on a couch.

"Someone's stabbing me!!!!" I yelled and clutched my side again.

"Honey, no one's stabbing you." She said with a panicky voice.

"Yes! They are!! It hurts so bad!! Make it stop!!" I screamed at Leah and grasped at the air near her.  
"I don't know how. No one's stabbing you Kristi!" She said. I knew she was crying. I heard a bunch of voices in the background but I was focusing on Leah's. I had lost all feeling in my side.

"YES THEY ARE! Stop it! Stop them!" I cried. I arched and fell off of the couch and blacked out with the overload of pain.

* * *

I was vaguely aware that I was dreaming, but it felt so real.

"Please, please, please! I'll do anything! I can fix it!" A boy cowered into the wall. He looked like he was about 17. He had tears streaming down his face as he cowered away from another boy walking towards him.

"No. You can't. But I'm going to end it." The kid said. He stalked forward and pulled out a switch-blade.

"No! Don't plea-" He was cut off as the other boy jammed his knife into his right side. A scream echoed through my head as I felt the pain. The boy screamed and slumped forward with blood draining from him. The last thing I saw was the kid's face, before my dream changed.

I was in the woods, in my wolf form. At first I couldn't see anything, it was so foggy. I blinked a couple of times and realized I was alone, or so I thought.

I heard something move behind me, I slowly turned and saw a very pale man standing in front of me smiling.

My human half wanted to walk forward and greet him, while my wolf instincts told me to run, and get out of there. He had dark black eyes and silky blond hair. He looked like he was in his early twenties. He wore a light blue buttoned up shirt and pants. He watched me intently as I stood frozen in the unfamiliar woods.

I was vaguely aware of who he was. He had been described to me before. The leader of the Cullen family. But what I had heard was that he was good and didn't hurt people. Well, it looked like he wanted to hurt me.

I swallowed and he tilted his head to the left, his eyes going deep into my soul. I wouldn't be surprised if they could hypnotize or brain wash people.

I noticed that I felt weak. Like really weak. Like human weak. Like I wouldn't stand a chance against a vampire weak.

I took a small step backwards, hoping he wouldn't notice. But of course he did. Because I took one small step, he took two large steps towards me and his smile grew bigger.

Adrenaline pulsed through my veins as he spoke in a sickly tone.

"Don't worry. I don't bite…. Well actually I do." He took a few more steps forward and he was about a yard away from me. When he talked, I could see his bloody teeth.

"What do you want with me?" I asked. I tried to sound strong but it came out like a scared whisper. As soon as I spoke he closed the distance and put his hand over my mouth.

"Shhh shh shh." His hand was ice cold and he pulled it to the back of my neck. His thumb was under my chin and pushed it up so my neck was stretched. I tried to pull my neck down but he forced it up to the point that it hurt.

I had my bare, human neck a few inches away from a blood thirsty monster. And I couldn't do anything about it. I took deep breathes which probably didn't help.

He brought his face closer and inhaled deeply closing his eyes in content. My heart was beating a million miles an hour. I had tears streaming down my face.

"Please…" I begged quietly. I knew I was a goner. He smiled and bared his teeth.

"It'll only hurt… a lot." He said and pushed his face towards my neck. I felt a sharp sting as his fangs broke my skin. Everything went foggy as the blood drained from my body. I moaned.

I've heard of your life flashing past your eyes when you are about to die. I saw my Mom's face, my Dad's face, wolves, blue eyes like the ocean, Embry, and then the grass as I passed out from the loss of blood.

* * *

_WHAM! _

I heard and pain went up my right side. My eyes shot open and I focused on where I was now. I was on the floor in my room. I was breathing heavily. Not even a few seconds later the door burst open, most of the hinges breaking off.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Embry asked and fell to the ground next to me.

"Yes, I'm fine. Jeesh, we all know a door doesn't stand a chance against you, but was that necessary?!" I said and blinked. I didn't remember what happened, how I got here.

"Carlisle!" Embry yelled and looked at the door. "She's awake." Once he said his name my heart started racing and I stood up. The blood rushed o my head and I started to fall. I braced myself for the hard floor but instead I felt a pair of cool and hard hands on my arms. I opened my eyes and struggled out of his grasp, hitting the floor with a _Thud!_

"That's what I was trying to prevent from happening," the vampire said. He had a different tone. He also had an accent that made me relax a little. His eyes were a crimson color, light, not dark in my dream.

He reached his hand out to help me stand up. I took it cautiously. It was only a dream, nothing to be scared about. I sat down on my bed and he stood next to me.

"So tell me the last thing you remember feeling, thinking or seeing," he asked. As he asked it, Leah walked in and stood in the doorway. She had a pained expression on her face.

"He's a doctor, he's just trying to figure out what you felt," she explained and pushed me to tell him.

"I- I don't remember…" I murmured.

"You have to try." He said. I thought really hard and remembered the pan in my side.

"I felt like I was being stabbed," I said, "But nothing was actually touching me." I said an looked up to Dr. Cullen for an explanation. Instead, he looked at Leah and sighed.

"There was a kid stabbed and killed a few blocks away from your school," he said.


	12. Chapter 11: Answers That Lead To More Qu

**Chapter 11: Answers That Lead To More Questions**

"So what does that mean?" I asked. So I felt like I was being stabbed, and there was a kid stabbed. What significance does that have? Carlisle looked deep in thought. Maybe he didn't know either.

"Not sure. Maybe it's a gift," he murmured.

"That's impossible. None of us have gifts. That's what vampires get." Leah argued. I looked up at her. What kind of gift is this anyway? A gift where I feel pain.

"**There's always a first. My fri****end ****Eleazar**** is visiting. He can determine others' gifts. It would be interesting if he could help us," he pondered. He walked out of the room; Leah took a step back so he could walk past her. She stiffened up for the second he was near her. She relaxed when he walked away. I heard him talking to Sam. ** **I turned my attention to Leah. She was looking down. From what I could tell she looked upset. She was the only one in my room. Everyone else was in the kitchen or family room. I wanted her to just talk to me. ** "**What's wrong?" I asked. My voice croaked as I spoke, I didn't realize how thirsty I was. She looked up and nodded towards a glass of water on the nightstand. I reached over to get it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her walk over and sit on the edge of the bed.** "**Thanks," I said. I looked at her but she was staring straight forward. It was silent for a moment. The background noise of a person talking on the television. It sounded like they had the local news station on. I listened, as they turned the volume up.** "**There are still no leading suspects. We have found out the boy's name, Christopher Wilk. If you have any information on Christopher or who you may think was responsible for his homicide please call the number at the bottom of the screen…" Leah rubbed her head trying not to listen.** **We sat in silence for another minute.** "**I'm sorry," she murmured. I looked at her in confusion. Why was she sorry? It wasn't her fault at all.** "**Why? It's not your fault. I'm fi-" She cut me off.** "**Don't say fine. You are not fine." She looked into my eyes.** "**But you didn't do anything." I said slowly.** "**You felt like you were being killed, Kristina. And I… I yelled at you." She said and looked back to the door. I don't even remember her yelling at me. I didn't know what to say. But before I could think of anything Carlisle walked back into the room followed by another man. ** **This man looked a few years older than Carlisle. I could tell he was a vampire before he walked into the room. The smell hurt my nose and was starting to give me a headache. He looked Spanish. He was tall, had dark-hair. He had chalky skin like vampires did. He had gold eyes a bit lighter than Carlisle's. He had a wedding ring on and smiled. The man looked very gentle. But the fact that he was a vampire over-ruled that. ** "**Kristina, this is Eleazar. He has a gift of being able to tell others' gifts. He's going to try and see if you have one." Carlisle explained to me. What kind of gift is telling others' their gift? I nodded. Eleazar walked over to me and sat next to me. He closed his eyes. He took a few deep breathes and held out his hand.** **I put my hand into his and felt the cool marble skin beneath my hand. Nothing felt different. I was expecting to feel a spark or shock when I touched his skin but nothing happened. He just smiled for a moment and then went deep into concentration. His eyes were still closed. ** **He did absolutely nothing, I could feel him breathing. I was so nervous I swear I could hear my heart pounding through my eardrums. **_**Great.**_** I bet he could hear it; with that thought I blushed. ** **He smiled and pulled away. "So does she have a talent?" I heard Carlisle ask. ** **Eleazar's smiled widened "Talent indeed, She's got much much talent! Much talent indeed…" he sounded like he was talking to himself, until he faced all of us and smiled. ** **Great not only am I a wolf, I'm a wolf with a talent. Why do I always have to be the weird one? Why does everything happen to me. And what kind of talent was this? It's more of a curse. ** "**So… what is it?" Leah asked. She didn't look too happy that he was touching me. But I was curious to hear the answer too. ** "**Hmm?" he asked. He still looked like he was trying to figure something else out.** "**What's the gift?" She asked, getting annoyed a bit. Eleazar laughed quietly.** "**Gifts. Plural." He said matter-of-factly. Leah's face dropped and she stared at him. Everyone was at the door waiting to hear what these gifts were.** "**Well, if I'm right. You have 2 gifts. We can test it to see if it's true. But ultimately you will have to gain control of them." He said. 2 gifts? So now I was a wolf, with 2 gifts. Not even just one. One would be weird but two? ** "**You can feel others' emotions. Pain is the strongest. To go along with that gift, you can push that emotion to other people. Say for example, Seth got hurt, you would feel it and could pass it on to Leah so she could feel it. You feel their emotions, like they do." He explained. I just blankly stared at him. How is that possible? Of course, everything that I thought was impossible, I now realize is. ** "**What's the other one?" Carlisle asked. He looked intrigued. ** "**You may be familiar with this one, my friend. Your son has it. She can read minds. Of course it's a little different for her. She has to focus very hard to hear the person's thoughts. Have you ever heard voices?" He asked me. I didn't trust my voice so I just nodded slowly.** "**Well once you gain control of this gift, you will only hear voices if u focus." He smiled, content with himself. I swallowed. I could read minds? I could feel others' pain? I could make others feels people's pain? Is it just pain I can feel? I wanted answers.** **Eleazar and Carlisle left. Before Eleazar left, he wrote down a few ways to test my gifts, so I could get control of them. Everyone wanted me to start working on them, but Leah told them to back off. I was grateful I had some time to think. **

* * *

**The next few days were okay, no voices were inside my head. Well none that I was afraid of anyway. ** **"Hey, you okay?" Embry asked. I guess he saw me staring off into space. ** **"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just a lot to take in, in a few days you know?" I asked. He sighed and nodded. ** **"Yeah I know, if anything it gets more complicated with the imprinting thing, like me, I have been looking for an imprint for so long, but I guess you get over it after awhile." I nodded.**

"Ready for school?" He asked. I hesitated. I wasn't in the mood to go back to school after that event, I can see it now, all the talk, the teasing, and the questions. He patted my shoulder. **"Hey, you don't have to go if you don't wanna. I will tell the teachers and your friends you're sick today. I'll cover for you, sis. It'll all work out don't worry." I smiled at him. ** **"Thanks Embry," I said and hugged him. ** **"I'll see you after school, try and phase we're going to have a meeting." he said ** **He waved to me and left. I haven't phased since god knows when, but I defiantly wasn't looking forward to it. I sighed and slumped back down into the couch. I did nothing the entire day. I flicked through the channels on the TV and regretted not going to school. Sometimes a really boring day is way worse than going to school. Seth walked in about a half an hour after school would have let out.** "**Come on. Meeting's in 10 minutes. We're going to be late," he said and opened the door. I pulled myself off of the couch and out the door. It was cool outside and the clouds were over us. It was going to rain soon. Leah was outside and she faked a small smile as I came outside. The three of us walked to the edge of the woods and Seth took off as a wolf. Leah stayed with me, watching me.** "**What?" I asked, self-consciously.** "**Are you going to phase, or what?" She murmured. I closed my eyes and thought about being a wolf. I focused on the feeling of the wind through my fur and the dirt beneath my paws. I felt a ripple through m body then opened my eyes and looked down at my brown paws. Yep, I was my russet brown wolf form. I looked over to Leah's wolf.** _**Ready? This is your first meeting**_**, she thought. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be exciting or terrifying. **

_You okay?_ Leah asked. I bobbed my head up and down. She led us into the center of the woods, where everyone was, in wolf form.

_Hey Kris, glad you made it!_ Embry yelled in my head.

_Okay, okay, we are here because we saw two vampires in the area, that are not the Cullens. We are going to be running shifts; Sam, and I will take the first shift, Kris and Leah will take the second, because I don't think any of us want to see inside their girly minds..._ Jake mumbled, and they all groaned. I laughed.

_Okay and Seth and Embry will take the next. _He said and made it final. I was going to argue but for some reason I couldn't, my mind wouldn't let me. Oh yeah that's right, alpha's orders. I hated being told what to do by my parents and now I'm going to have to listen to orders my friend? Ugh.

_You know that we can hear you, right?_ Paul said behind me. Oh crap! I forgot.

_Sorry_, I thought.

Leah and I went home to rest before we had to run our shift. I was nervous mainly because I had never been up close to a vampire except Carlisle and Eleazar. Leah told me o go to sleep because we would be out early in the morning but I knew I wasn't going to fall asleep at all. I lay awake, on my bed, thinking about worse possible scenarios. What if Leah got hurt? What if any of my friends got hurt? What if I get killed? What if they come back and I'm not ready? What would they tell my Dad? At about 5 in the morning Leah walked into the room. I could see that she didn't get much sleep last night either. She told me to get out of bed and get ready. My stomach was ding flips. Nothing was going to happen. We would just walk around for a few hours, maybe talk. But nothing bad was going to happen, I kept trying to comfort myself. But it wasn't working. It wasn't working at all.


	13. Chapter 12: Encounter

**Chapter 12: Encounter**

An hour had passed of patrol. Leah was mostly silent. Every now and again she would check in on me. I could listen to what she was thinking but I tried to block it out. I was walking around the beach, through the woods. There was nothing here. I smelt the remains of the vampire that the pack found before. Maybe it wasn't coming back. It would have been hard to stay awake if it wasn't for the adrenaline pulsing through me and my heart going a billion miles and hour. Something made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. And since I was a wolf, that was a lot of hair.

_Find anything?_ Leah asked for about the third time in that hour.

_No. Nothing. How much longer do we need to stay out here?_ I asked. I wanted to go home. Go to bed.

_About another couple hours_, Leah thought. _You'll be fine. If you find anything howl._ I really hoped that I would have to use that advice. I walked around a few more trees and the air felt cooler. I was probably just making it up but it looked darker in here too. Of course it was about 6 in the morning. The sun would rise in about an hour. That thought made me a little bit calmer. I walked around. Every crunch of a leave made me flinch.

I walked a few more steps and swore I heard something behind me. It was probably nothing. I walked another few steps and heard it again. There was a really weird feeling in my gut. Like I should turn around right now. I was breathing heavily. It was probably nothing, I tried to comfort myself. It wasn't working, at all. I swallowed and walked one step further and knew something or someone was behind me. Maybe it was Leah. Or one of the boys just messing with me. Yeah, it's probably Embry. I slowly turned around. Nothing.

I sighed. My ears perked up, listening for any other noise. I looked around me. Between two trees I saw a black blur. If I blinked, I would have missed it. I watched that spot for a few minutes. What was that? It was something.

_Leah…_ I thought. I swallowed.

_Did you find something?_ She asked. I could see that she was a few miles away. No. It couldn't have been anything. Just my eyes playing tricks on me because I'm tired. I blinked. I opened my eyes just in time to see a huge tree branch coming right at me. I ducked quickly and rolled on the ground. The wood grazed my ear. Okay, I thought, maybe it was something. I looked around me for what could have hauled that huge branch at me. I saw another black blur to my right.

_Maybe…_ I thought. Even my thoughts sounded scared to death. I heard a weird crackling sound. Like something being ripped out of the earth. Then another tree sailed right next to me. I turned to watch it land behind me. That was my mistake. When I turned something slamed into my side, where I wasn't looking. I was shoved over and landed on the tree that could have killed me a few seconds ago. Standing about two yards away from me was a vampire. I knew this because 1) my nose burned like hell, and 2) it's eyes were bright bright red.

Well, it was really a girl. She had long brown hair. I had no idea who she was at all but she didn't seem to like me. I didn't know how to fight! She walked over and grabbed the fur by my neck and flung me over her shoulder. Pain rippled through my body. My neck and back felt like it was being ripped off. I slammed into another tree. My back cracked and I whimpered.

_Kristina?! Are you okay?! What's going on?? I'll be right there_, Leah screamed through her thoughts. Even if she ran as fast as she could, she wouldn't make it back before I died. This thing was so much stronger than me. She picked up the tree that flew past me moments ago and threw it at me again. I thought I was done then, but I used all my strength to roll out of the way. She growled and showed up over me.

She glared at me. I tried to bite her foot but she kicked my jaw which flew back with the force. She bent down, lifted her fist, and punched me in the ribs. I heard a few cracks and pops and yelped out in pain. The corner of her mouth turned up in a creepy smile. I knew it was over.

Last time I was in a life or death type of situation, my life kind of flashed before my eyes. But nothing happened this time.

She rolled me on my back and bent her mouth to my neck. I knew that vampire venom would kill me in an instant. My heart raced. My nose burned. I did not want to die because of this evil creature without even putting up a fight. I concentrated really hard. I mean harder than I ever had. I wanted her to be in pain. I wasn't sure if this would work at all. In fact I really thought it wouldn't. He teeth were so close to my neck. I know she could kill me in any instant. She was probably just having fun watching me squirm.

I thought about all the pain I ever felt. All the pain in the world. All the pain that was inflicted on my family. The pain that that poor boy who was stabbed felt. The pain I felt transforming. All the pain I focused on her. But like I thought, it didn't work.

"It's going to be fun watching you die. And all your filthy mutt friends are next," she squealed. She was going to hurt my friends? No. I couldn't let that happen. I barked as loudly as I could and pushed with all my might. She was too strong. She pushed down on my chest and the pain was overwhelming. I stared at her. My vision was turning red with rage. I wanted her to die. I wanted her to feel the pain I feel. She deserves all the pain possible. She deserves to writhe in pain for the rest of her immortal life.

She pushed harder on my chest and I whimpered. My eyes went fuzzy for moment and my eye twitched with anger.

Her expression changed. It went from cocky to confused. She lessened the weight she had on my and looked at me. She rolled off of me and onto the grass next to me. She rolled around clutching her chest and throat screeching and screaming. I stood up. Pain engulfed my chest but went away. I could feel myself pushing it into her. I'd never done this before but it felt good. Well it felt a lot better than dying.

I pushed more pain over to her. Her eyes widened. I started to feel really tired. It was draining my energy. Leah ran through the trees and I looked up for one second then back to the leech. She coward under my gaze. I heard more foot steps behind me but I didn't dare turn. She needed to suffer more. I pushed more pain into her being and she flinched and screamed in pain. My eyes filled with tears. How could I be doing this? But every time I did it I wanted to add more pain. I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. I still didn't look up. More pain. The girl flipped onto her back. The person whose hand was on my shoulder spoke.

"Stop," he said. I had no choice but to obey. I snapped my head to see Jacob. "Now." I closed my eyes and stopped the pain. Adrenaline pulsed through my body. I phased and fell to my knees. Leah ran over to me and put her arm around my shoulders. The pain in my chest returned. I felt weak and exhausted. I collapsed to the ground and everything went dark.


	14. Chapter 13: Field Trip Visitors

**Chapter 13: Field Trip Visitors**

**Author's Note: So now we're at the point where this story and ****A New Day Approaches**** come together. Please read both for both the sides of the story. I will try and fit them together best I can. Please continue reading and review!!**

I felt the softness of my bed underneath me. I blinked and slowly opened my eyes. How did I get here? What happened? I couldn't remember. I tried to roll onto my side and suddenly my chest burned and I whimpered.

"Are you okay?" I heard Leah ask. I just noticed that she was sitting next to me. I rubbed my head. I couldn't remember what happened… at all… and it was freaking me out. My chest felt tight, my arm hurt like hell and my ankle ached. Every time I took a breath I flinched with pain from my chest. How much pain could one bare?

"Ugh… what happened, Leah?" I whispered. I focused on her mind. I could do this. She didn't say anything and I wasn't going to wait for an answer. I squinted and focused on her mind again.

My head became filled with images. Images of me. I was in wolf form and I was fighting a vampire. My breathing increased. I was losing the fight. I was losing badly. The monster had her mouth at my neck. But then she flinched and fell backwards. I stood up and started walking towards her with a scary look on my face. Not the face that was scared. The face that was scary. I looked evil. The creature writhed in pain. I decided that I couldn't see anymore of this. I pulled myself from Leah's mind, panting.

"You have 2 broken ribs, a broken arm and a sprained ankle," she looked down. She was upset and sorry she didn't get there in time. I decided not to bring it up. If she wanted to talk about it, she would. I noticed that I had a cast on my right arm. I had a bandage on my left ankle. Carlisle came in and gave me some pain medication. The room spun and I fell back into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

About two months have passed. My cast got taken off. My ribs healed. And my ankle didn't hurt anymore. I've gotten pretty used to my gifts. I can read minds pretty easily when I want to. I have to focus and most of the pack knows when I do it because they say that I squint my eyes. I guess it's because I focus really hard. I try not to read minds that much; it's their privacy. I haven't had to use the pain enforcement gift thing, or whatever you would call it, again. The only thing I can do without focusing is reading people's emotions. If I'm in my room and Leah walks into the house I know whether she's happy, which is rarely the case, sad, angry, or whatever.

A few things have changed because of that night with the vampire. We had a meeting about a week ago. Sam and Jake have agreed that I should be ranked higher in the pack because I have the advantage of my gifts. I didn't really care. I couldn't go against them so what did it matter? They thought that since I could read the enemy's move before they go through with it then that would give us leverage. I think it had more to do with the fact that I can cause pain without touching them. But they didn't say that. They did tell me, however, not to use that power unless I was told to or really needed it. It drained too much energy.

Not much else changed. Leah didn't seem to hate me anymore. She didn't treat me normally, but Leah isn't normal. And I sure as hell am not normal, either. But she seemed nicer to me than anyone else. I kind of stuck with her too. She was the only other girl in the pack as well. I lived with her. And she understood my gift more than anyone else. Well not as much understanding the gift but understanding how hard it is for me to deal with it sometimes. She felt like my big sister. She was my big sister.

"And where are you going?" Leah asked me, as I walked through the hallway to the door. I wanted to go for a run, clear my mind.

"A run," I answered. I stopped and looked at her. She was in the living room watching TV. She looked up and nodded. I smiled.

I opened the door and walked out into the cool air of La Push. It had recently rained so the dirt was wet as I stepped on it. I phased right at the woods and just walked through the trees for a while. I liked doing this sometimes. I liked nature. Heck, I was nature now. I was walking along the side of the road. I was still in the woods so if a car went by, I would be unseen. I saw a few cars pass and one bus. A school bus. I decided to follow it. We didn't get many people who come to Forks for a field trip.

It stopped on the driveway of a huge house. It wasn't a hotel. It looked like a rented out house. I sat next to a tree and watched the kids get out of the bus. By now it was drizzling with rain. They were mostly teenagers and people in their early-twenties. No one saw me. They wouldn't see me. They couldn't see me. One boy, particularly, stood out. He was a big guy. I don't know why he stood out though. He had black hair and wore jeans and a leather jacket. It looked like everyone else avoided him except one guy. I watched them go inside. I didn't want to leave though. Something interested me in that boy. He looked like he was about 20 years old. But there was something weird about him. He was defiantly human. So it wasn't instincts.

A few minutes later the boy walked back outside. I looked up and watched him. He started walking into the woods on the other side of the clearing. I ran around the house to see where he was going. I didn't want him to get lost or hurt. I didn't find him but I ran into Sam, Jacob, Seth, and Embry. They were in human form talking. Why were they in the middle of the woods? They boy could find them. I didn't stick around to hear what they were talking about. I ran right past them to try and find the boy.

I found him quickly. Which wasn't good at all. He was close to the boys. He walked closer to them and I knew that he saw them. But I also knew they saw him. Sam, Jake, Seth, and Embry stiffened for a moment, phased and ran off before the boy could figure out what happened. I sighed, relieved and started walking around the boy. He sat down and was thinking about something. I could have read his mind but I decided not to. Instead I sat down a few yards away, so he couldn't see me.

After about a half an hour he stood up and started back for the house. I stayed where I was. He got far enough away I thought I could get up and leave without him hearing me. I was wrong. I stood up and broke a stick. He turned around and I ran. I ran around the perimeter of the yard a little bit so I wasn't behind him anymore. I was to his left.

He turned back towards the house. He stopped his head, looking in my direction. I stood, frozen. Did he see me? I cocked my head to the left. His gaze was locked on me. The flood light from the house flickered on and I knew he saw too much. I needed to get out of here. But something made me stay. His eyes. I had seen those eyes before. But I couldn't think about when. I watched the boy take a step towards me and I forced myself to run. I darted into the woods and ran home. That was weird.

About a week later we had news that the field trip kids were having a party. I had to go because the pack was going. I didn't really mind. I wanted to learn more about that boy and why I kept thinking about him. I didn't really dress up or anything. I didn't plan on doing much except sticking with Leah.

When we got to the party there was a few people there already. The Cullens came shortly after us and our group slowly merged with theirs. I couldn't really concentrate on what they were saying though. I focused my attention on the boy, who happened to be staring at our group right now. I focused on his mind without looking at him, and it was hard.

He was think about how every guy in the room was staring at Rosalie. Well, obviously, she's gorgeous. But he didn't think so. There was something very different with this guy. It could be the weird thoughts or the fact that he would not keep his eyes off of the group.

"Are you okay?" Leah asked me. I looked up and nodded. She looked like she didn't believe me so I whispered my explanation.

"That guy just keep staring at us and is starting to get suspicious…" She nodded and went back to the conversation the others' were having.

Fortunately, we left the party soon after that.


End file.
